CANTON — St. Lawrence County government is operating under a hiring freeze.
Sort of.
Legislators at Monday's meeting unanimously agreed to a "nonessential-services" hiring freeze as part of a package of resolutions aimed at saving money through conservative staffing. They did not define nonessential.
"We're all going to have opinions on essential," said Legislator Sallie A. Brothers, D-Norfolk. "I think what we're going to be looking at is a tough set of discussions."
The rest of the package consisted of forming a committee to look at consolidating department head vacancies — although it was watered down before being passed 10-5 — and committing for 18 months to saving money by leaving lower-level jobs vacant when feasible.
"The intent of these resolutions is to react proactively to the governor's announcement last week," said lead sponsor Thomas A. Nichols, R-Oswegatchie. "If we don't look at it, we'll never have the opportunity to say we debated it."
Gov. David A. Paterson has frozen most state hiring, ordered a 7 percent cut in agency spending and asked legislators to approve $600 million in cuts to boost state finances.
County legislators have been operating much of the year under an unofficial hiring freeze because of expected fuel and health insurance overruns and flat revenues. Repeated requests by department heads have been pushed aside until the fall's 2009 budget deliberations.
"St. Lawrence County is in good financial shape," said Legislator Alex A. MacKinnon, R-Fowler. "Financial difficulties are survived best by those who anticipate it and make changes today for tomorrow."
The lack of a definition for nonessential was not lost on lawmakers.
"It's going to be a very difficult discussion down the line," Mrs. Brothers said. "For example: the jail. There are some of us who think it was essential and those who said it wasn't."
She was referencing a series of votes earlier in the night in which four lawmakers tried unsuccessfully, again, to add six full-time corrections officers to the Commerce Lane jail, which is expected to open about Jan. 1. Legislators stuck to adding three full-time workers and five part-timers to the current jail staff.
"This is where the test is," said Legislator Charles E. House Jr., D-Potsdam, who opposed the increase. "We say we're going to do this and this is our first test."
The department head consolidation committee was created only after legislators chipped away and got two of the three current vacancies from a freeze that will last until an Aug. 25 recommendation for savings. Legislators did not want to delay ongoing searches for a Department of Social Services commissioner and a personnel director. The search for a director of emergency services has not begun and will be delayed until after Aug. 25.
"If this sends a message to people, that's fine. There's no reason delaying it," said Legislature Chairman J. Patrick Turbett, D-Potsdam.
Urging management to cut lower-level positions through attrition was unanimous, but one lawmaker had reservations.
"We have to decide if we are overburdening the employees who are left," said Vernon D. "Sam" Burns, D-Ogdensburg.
