Baker County Commission Chairman Shane Alderson and Commissioner Christina Witham agree that the commission office needs more help with administrative tasks.

But the two disagree about the solution.

Alderson and Witham, along with newly elected Commissioner Michelle Kaseberg, resumed their discussion about the topic during a work session on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the courthouse.

During commissioners’ Jan. 8 meeting, Witham, who along with Alderson was elected in 2022 and took office in January 2023 for a four-year term, unveiled her proposal to make two changes.

First, Witham proposes that the commissioners hire a full-time administrator who would take over some of the duties that the chairman has had for decades, including overseeing the county’s non-elected department heads.

Second, Witham suggests that each of the three commissioners have equal pay and approximately equal duties.

Now, the chairman is officially the only full-time commissioner. Alderson’s salary is $96,276 per year. Witham and Kaseberg, whose positions are half-time although Witham said she typically works “way more” than 20 hours per week, earn half that amount, $48,136.

Witham has emphasized that her proposals are drafts, subject to change.

She hasn’t suggested what commissioners’ salaries would be if they were made equal, but she said in an interview on Thursday, Jan. 16, that the amount would likely about what Witham and Kaseberg earn. The county could use the reduction in Alderson’s salary, totaling about $48,000, to help pay a full-time administrator.

Witham believes that having an administrator overseeing the county’s day-to-day operations would bring more continuity to the courthouse than having an elected chairman, whom voters can replace every four years, handling those duties as it is now.

She pointed out during the Jan. 8 meeting that many Oregon counties have an administrator.

Alderson said during that meeting that he opposes Witham’s proposals.

He also said, as did several county residents who spoke during the Jan. 8 meeting, that he believes changes of the sort Witham has proposed should be decided by voters, not by the commissioners. Alderson conceded, though, that commissioners do have the legal authority to make the changes, without voter approval, that Witham has proposed.

During Wednesday’s work session, Alderson, Witham and Kaseberg agreed that a significant problem is a vacancy in the commissioners’ office. The management assistant who started work in 2022 has been on paid leave for about a year (first under the county’s policy and then under Oregon’s new paid leave law) and Alderson said that employee won’t be returning.

He suggests the county hire someone, and to increase that person’s duties, which would increase the salary by what he estimates at $15,000.

But Witham said she’s concerned that even if the county hires that person — potentially under the title of executive assistant — there will still be a shortfall.

“The bottom line is the administrative duties are not getting done,” she said.

Alderson disagreed.

He concurred with Witham, however, that having the management assistant job vacant has added too much to the workload for Heidi Martin, a longtime county employee who has been both executive assistant and human resources director since 2010.

“Heidi has been doing a fantastic job of trying to do three jobs,” Alderson said.

Witham described Martin’s duties as “overwhelming.”

Bill Harvey, who served as chairman for eight years before retiring at the end of 2022, when he was replaced by Alderson, told commissioners Wednesday that he believes the county needs to hire someone to take over administrative duties so Martin can work solely as human resources director.

Sheriff Travis Ash also told commissioners that he believe human resources is a full-time job.

Burke O’Brien, who said he worked as public works director in Morrow County for 20 years, urged commissioners to proceed carefully in considering hiring a full-time administrator.

O’Brien said that when Morrow County hired an administrator, he thought the administrator became in effect an “unelected commissioner.”

Witham responded by saying that hiring an administrator could also benefit Baker County.

O’Brien conceded that is possible. He urged commissioners to “be cautious.”

Witham said that’s the reason she has proposed that the commissioners hire a full-time administrator on a six-month interim basis. That would give commissioners time to refine the concept and ensure that the administrator’s duties would be well-defined, she said.

Witham also has emphasized that if commissioners hired an administrator, they would still oversee that person and have the authority to hire and fire the employee.

In an interview Thursday, Witham said she is concerned about Alderson’s oversight of the budget-writing process and of union negotiations.

As to the former, Witham during Wednesday’s work session endorsed the idea of appointing Kaseberg as the county’s budget officer, a task Kaseberg, who worked in banking for more than 43 years before retiring.

Witham said she would also like to have the three commissioners divide among themselves the duties of overseeing departments that aren’t managed by an elected official, rather than having Alderson alone do that.

Alderson said during Wednesday’s meeting that he believes he should continue to serve as budget officer.

During an interview Thursday, Alderson said he believes he fulfilled his role as a member of the county’s negotiating team, along with Martin and administrative services director Christena Cook.

Witham said that even if the commissioners don’t end up hiring an administrator, as she has proposed, she would like to see “small changes,” such as appointing Kaseberg as budget officer and dividing department oversight duties among the three commissioners.

Witham said she believes those changes would partially relieve the workload that has fallen to Martin and other employees in the county’s administrative services department.