ELECTRIC NEWS
July 26, 2007
Hiring Policy
In the “Policies Rules and Regulations of the Benton County Electric System,” page 10, one finds the policy on employment.
“The Benton County Board of Public Utilities is an equal Opportunity Employer” It states: “No person shall be denied employment or promotion on the grounds of race, color, national origin, age, religion or handicap.” This was adopted at the June 28, 1994 Board Meeting.
In case you did not recognize the language it is verbatim from part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. One may also find it located in the Tennessee Human Rights Act, T.C.A. 4-21-101. Did you notice that it took this board 30 years to adopt the law?
In Practice
I have posted several years of minutes of the monthly meetings of the Benton County Electric System on my web site www.HENRYBERRY.COM. My purpose was to inform but also to enable you to follow along as I discuss some of the more interesting things one can find among the entries.
As previously revealed many hiring’s have occurred in the past few years, none of which were advertised in the newspaper of record.
In the board minutes of May 1999 the last order of business only concerned the General Manager’s position. Attorney John Whitworth, at the request of Board member Keith Jones, reported that he had consultation with a lawyer that specializes in employment law. The specialty lawyer’s opinion was that no law specified that this position be advertised or posted.
How much did this bit of circus cost us? The law is clear; the General Manager serves at the will and pleasure of the Board. While it is my position that the interest of the people is best served by an outsider in the position of General Manager, it goes without saying if the Board doesn’t choose this route the point of advertising is moot.
In November 1999 Chairman of the Board, Mr. Keith Arnold, “made a motion to advertise all employment positions that might be available with the Benton County Electric System in the local newspapers. The motion failed for lack of a second.”
That’s right. Mr. Allen Webb, current Mayor of the city of Camden, Tennessee did not see the need for fair play. Neither did other board members Mr. Keith Jones, Jim Oatsvall and Ron Espey. Chairman Keith Arnold has been on this Board for over 10 years and has watched members come and go, yet I wonder why he raised this important issue only once.
Now, please take a look at the Board minutes from May 2001.
What do you know? In new business for a limited time only, the Board votes to advertise in the Camden Chronicle for ONE week and accept applications on June 5th & 6th for the positions the General Manager wants to fill. Yes, I looked in the back issues of the paper and low and behold there was NO AD placed. My question is not about who is running the place, for the answer is no one. Rather, was this AD ok’d because they did not have to make good on a family member or political pay-off?
In December 2005 County Commissioner Bob Pace informed the Board that he had received a complaint on the Systems hiring practices and requested a copy of their policy.
In the minutes of November 2006 the Board requested that they be informed about employees leaving or being hired. Did this stir any questions in your mind?
Stay tuned! More to come!
Henry Berry