Robbinsville – Merit pay for Graham County Sheriff’s deputies, correctional officers and other frontline personnel was on the agenda at a special meeting of the Graham County Board of Commissioners Friday morning.
The meeting was held to discuss potential uses for the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds, with merit pay being at the top of the list. The board previously voted in favor of premium pay for county EMS workers. At the end of the meeting, the board planned to meet again to further discuss the issue before making a final decision.
Sheriff Jerry Crisp was the first to speak, saying that his deputies had been exposed to the virus, with almost half of the department having contracted the virus at one point or another and almost 90 percent of correctional officers having had COVID-19.
“Fifty percent of the sheriff’s office had COVID at one point or another,” Crisp said. “People had to work 12-hour shifts for 10-12 days straight just to cover for the people with COVID, including myself. I got COVID.”
He said during the period, the deputies filling in for those with COVID-19 had no days off.
“They were working what I refer to as port and starboard-duty sections,” Crisp said. “Some of the officers were covering the day shift and some were covering the night shift, and they had to go 10-12 straight days without a day off.”
He said that during the worst of the jail outbreaks, he had to pull deputies off the street to help man the jail. The facility has been plagued with several COVID-19 outbreaks throughout the pandemic – in some cases causing the jail to close to outsiders – and push back several court dates for those incarcerated in Graham County.
In some cases, correctional officers would also have to serve as caregivers to inmates with COVID-19. Crisp also emphasized the need for the county to bring its pay scale for officers up, to make it more comparable with other local agencies. He said that he had made attempts to recruit several former Asheville officers during the mass exodus the department experienced in early 2021.
“I’d say 60 percent of them were very interested until they heard what our pay was, and then they weren’t interested anymore,” Crisp said.
Commissioner Dale Wiggins agreed with the need to give the officers merit pay.
“Whatever it is, I want good quality people at EMS,” Wiggins said. “I want good quality people up there. I want good quality people in this office, at the jail – and the reality is, we’ve operated here for so long on this attitude that we can’t afford to do these things, and we’ve got ourselves in the situation now, where we cannot afford not to do these things.
“This is not ‘Barney Fife’ world.”
In her presentation, Graham County Communications Supervisor Misty Hembree said many of her department’s issues mirrored those that Crisp discussed.
She also noted a need for merit pay in her department to slow down turnovers and compensate dispatchers who had to work much harder than normal throughout the pandemic.
“It seems like when I talk to recruits or applicants, they look at that dollar amount that they’re going to get paid and I try to explain to them the benefit of the retirement, the healthcare, the insurance, all the good things that the county has, and we have a great package here that we can sell, but I’m finding that it’s not accepted as well as it was in the past,” Hembree said.
She said due to the low starting pay, Graham County Communications often ended up being a “training ground” or “stepping stone” to a different higher-paying agency.
“They’ve not gotten out of the field, per se,” Hembree said. “They like the job and they’re good at it. I think we do a great job training people and these other agencies like our training, so unfortunately, that’s where about half my staff went.”
Hembree also said that morale among the remaining staff was an issue.
“It’s just taken a huge toll on everybody’s morale, 911 staff is still short,” Hembree said. “We need a couple more part-time. We have been able to fill the full-time slots, but I had to switch around schedules and fill those slots with a season telecommunication and a trainee, which is a little bit more of an obstacle when you look at it.”
Additionally, the board unanimously voted to allow Graham County Transportation Director Juanita Colvard to use her remaining Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds to give her employees an incentive.
“It’s still ongoing and it’s from June 2 forward,” Colvard said.
She said that the funds would go back to the government if they weren’t used.
“We should’ve done it June 2,” Colvard said. “I need to expend it and I don’t want to apply for that $274,000 if I can’t utilize it.”