FARMINGTON — When the sheriff sought to promote a longtime county law enforcement employee to a new position Tuesday, county commissioners and other employees questioned the proposed pay raise.

Franklin County commissioners agreed that Sheriff Dennis Pike had the right to promote employees, but a wage increase to go with it “may or may not happen.”

Pike met with commissioners seeking to promote Lt. Niles Yeaton to the position of captain after his 35 years with Franklin County law enforcement.

Pike said the prestigious promotion would not only recognize Yeaton’s service, but encourage other officers to work their way up within the department. Pike did not expect to fill the lieutenant’s position after Yeaton is promoted.

Commissioners  requested a job description for the position in order to review the proposed wage increase.

Other longtime county employees voiced concerns saying they didn’t disagree with Yeaton’s merit but questioned a proposed wage increase that would provide nearly a $2-per-hour hike, making the position’s pay equivalent to the jail administrator, County Clerk Julie Magoon said.

Yeaton has reached the top of the county’s step pay increases but receives cost-of-living increases like other county employees, Magoon said. The next step would be about a $2-an-hour increase, she said.

Later, Pike said he expects a pay increase somewhere between the salaried lieutenant’s pay now, which works out to $20.24 per hour based on a 40-hour week, and the jail administrator’s pay. He thought it would end up to be a hike of maybe a dollar more an hour. The lieutenant is on-call weekends and often works more than 40 hours without overtime, Pike said.

What about other long-term employees, asked Register of Deeds Susan Black, who has a deputy within her 31st year of employment. Something needs to be put in the personnel policy, she said, questioning creation of a position for a longevity increase.

“Don’t create a new position to get that (increase) if that’s the intent,” Black said.

Black with 25 years experience was joined by Register of Probate Joyce Morton, who has 44 years with the county. Both are elected officials who said they are there not for themselves but for other long-term employees within their departments. They want consistency among the departments regarding rewards or promotions for longevity.

Commissioners agreed that Black brought up a valid point, one that could have a ripple effect among other departments. 

“We need to get the horse before the cart,” Commissioner Gary McGrane told Pike, reminding him that he could promote within the department without their consent but the commissioners needed to see a job description.

Questioning whether Yeaton would be promoted with a proposed wage increase for the same amount of work, Pike told the board he has delegated and added work to the lieutenant’s position over the years and placed more responsibility on his position.

“We’re comparing apples and oranges,” Commissioner Clyde Barker said, calling the sheriff’s department unique from other county departments. “Officers can work seven days a week, 24-hours a day and jeopardize their lives,” he said.

Pike intends to return to the board with a job description and will let the process take its course, he said. Discussion and changes within the personnel policy are something that he also sees as needed, he said.

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