Commissioner's Raises Stay in Budget.

Jasper County Presiding Commissioner Danny Hensley made little headway in his attempts to reduce expenditures in the proposed County budget during a special session of the Jasper County Commissioners yesterday morning. Hensley stated that he feels that some offices are overstaffed. He again indicated that he felt Associate Commissioners Ben Johnson and Anna Ruth Crampton should follow the opinion of County Counselor James Spradling and not take a raise in salary in 1999. The raises are currently included in the proposed budget.

"I see no reason to change it," said Crampton.

County Treasurer Jeannie Wells questioned the raises.

"Why would you do that when Jim Spradling says it's illegal -unconstitutional?" said Wells. "And we're trying so hard to trim the budget in other areas. Why do we have Jim if we aren't going to listen to him."

Ben Johnson disagreed. "What Jim has offered is not a judgement, but a legal opinion," said Johnson. "Only a court of law can strike it down as unconstitutional."

Spradling's opinion is based on the fact that the Constitution does not allow any office holder to vote themselves a raise for their current term. A state statute was passed allowing a one time raise for Associate Commissioners when the term of office was increased from two years to four years. Spradling contends that such a statute does not override the Missouri constitution. The Missouri Attorney General has declined to offer an opinion.

Johnson went on to explain his position.

"It's a one time change, authorized by Senate Bill 11," said Johnson. "If the thing never goes to court, those Associate Commissioners, in the State of Missouri - - if it is never adjudicated, it goes to a situation that those who take this salary cut, loose by default. And those who take it, get the salary increase."

Wells ask Spradling if the Commissioners are entitled to the raise.

"Not in my opinion," said Spradling.

Hensley moved on.

"I hear no motion to change the (proposed budget) salary for the County Commission then?", asked Hensley. "I'm a lone duck again, so I'm shot in the foot again."

County Auditor Shirley Norris was not present at the meeting. The fact was not lost on Commissioner Hensley.

"Moving along," said Hensley, "page 35, County Auditor. I think I would propose on the salary line here, being's we're able to operate the County Auditor's Office with two deputies, the $43,500, I think we need to remove that. One of her most important jobs is Budget Officer, and not show up for a couple of hours today, it looks like if we can get by today, we can probably get by all year without her."

The Commission will meet again to go over the budget before the first of the year.

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

The filin' period for City Council has officially opened. As of late yesterday afternoon, there were four candidates filed.

H.J. (Just Jake) Johnson has filed for the 1st Ward seat that is being vacated by two term Council member Mike Harris.

Art Dunaway, incumbent for 4th Ward has filed for his second term.

The 5th Ward will have a race between incumbent Donna Harlan and former Council member Lujene Clark. Clark unseated Harlan three years ago. Harlan then unseated Tom Bewick two years ago and Clark was unseated by Don Stearnes last year.

The 2nd Ward member Charlie Bastin and 3rd Ward member J.D. Whitledge have not filed and both have indicate informally that they are at least considering not running for another term.

There's still time for your hat in.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin'.

by

Carthage Printing Services

Intro to the Internet.

There are a lot of great reasons to use the Internet. Here’s a couple of reasons why most people spend time on-line.

* Electronic Mail- Ask anyone who uses it and they’ll tell you life wouldn’t be the same without it . Electronic Mail ( or E/Mail) is a great way of communicating on the Internet. Not only can you send and receive letters but you can also attach documents ( files, ect.) to your messages.

* Research - The Internet holds an enormous amount of information from all corners of the earth. You can access on-line Encyclopedias, Libraries, Ect. to gain information on almost any topic you might be looking for. Once you find that information, you can print it (as well as any pictures you might see) or save it to a disk.

* Business - Look up telephone numbers in an interactive phone book, access competitor sites, track UPS of Fedex packages, plan a business trip, or simply order a pizza on-line. The list of things that could help you at work is endless!

* Advertising - for a small fee you can put your own company on-line! Advertise your product where up to 50 million people could have access to it.

* Internet communications - Create a secure (employee only) Internet site where you could store data and information useful to your employees.

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