Dear Editor,
I read your editorial in pure disbelief. How could a local news organization print an editorial that is so far from the facts? I understand that the editorial piece is the “opinion” of the paper. My question to you is how could you form such an opinion without the basis to do so?
Here are the facts:
The County openly and actively has pursued reorganizations of just about all of the county’s operations.
In the case of Emergency Management, the Directors position (held by Irene) was subordinate to the Senior Director position. The department hierarchy has not been changed since the retirement of Billy Wagner.
During budget round table discussions, Emergency Management asked that staffing be returned to previous levels to maintain our level of service, but also to remain in compliance with state grant requirements.
Jim Callahan, Acting Fire Chief worked with Human Resources to review and edit the senior and director job descriptions and job titles. The new hierarchy is now Director and Deputy Director of Emergency Management.
Irene Toner was fully aware of the changes being proposed and in fact supported them wholeheartedly. She was also notified of the need to post the positions in-house to comply with county policy, which, by the way I am required to enforce. The job title and description were only available to an in-house candidate and was not advertised publicly. The bottom line is that Irene Toner was shown every professional courtesy and her job was never at risk. She was contacted by me personally as well as by Human Resources and the Deputy Director to discuss the process as it evolved, all prior to any public posting of the new position.
The only confusion and uproar about the entire issue was caused directly by your printing of stories that lack factual-information and your organizations inability to separate fact from pure rumor and speculation. The only fact that you correctly state in the editorial is that I have no intention of bringing a Senior Director position back into the organization.
My door is always open and I personally aspire to run the most transparent county office that ever existed. I have nothing to hide and no hidden agenda. That is something that you can’t say.
Thomas J. Willi
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