The Mountain Eagle's Rosie Cunningham penned a thoughtful article yesterday about last week's news that Delaware County is declining to renew the contract of its Stop DWI coodinator, Lisa Barrows.
Notably, Cunningham includes several statements from County Chairman Jim Eisel, who was unavailable for comment when the story broke:
“It is primarily for budgetary reasons,” said Eisel. “I think we’ll get more bang for our buck with a part-time coordinator. The part-time position will be held either by an employee of ours or a new employee and we won’t have to pay fringe benefits.”
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According to Eisel, the fines and penalties collected for the program paid Barrow’s $55,350 a year salary with fringe benefits, which is 46.22 percent of the money taken in each year.
“We have a job here and our job is to act in the best interest of the taxpayers. Nearly half of the money we get for fines goes towards her salary,” he said. “In releasing her, more money can go to the police department for equipment and to maintain the program.”
The chairman added, Barrows will be receive unemployment.
