FARMINGTON – The Franklin County Commissioners recently hired a human resource consulting firm to conduct an internal investigation. Deb Whitworth of HR Studio Group in Portland was approved for hire on June 9 and offers services such as employee development and training, performance management documentation, best practices policy templates, compensation plan development and salary analysis.
According to Commissioner Lance Harvell who represents District 2, the investigation was recommended by the county’s attorney.
Harvell refused further comment on the details of the investigation.
Separate from the external hire, a human resource position was created for the county during a meeting on April 14. County Clerk Julie Magoon presented commissioners with a draft for the hiring ad, which was approved unanimously, along with the motion to publish the ad in local papers. Magoon and Finance Manager Vickie Braley had been covering the HR duties up until then, but according to Braley the duties had become overwhelming over the past few years.
One ongoing human resource issue that Magoon and Braley have been navigating involves Treasurer Pam Prodan.
Prodan began working from home part-time when the Covid-19 Pandemic began. She and the other office employees staggered their hours so as to follow federal and state guidelines, but Prodan said she kept up with her full time position from her home.
“The commissioners didn’t like that I wasn’t [in the office]. I feel that they weren’t acknowledging that I was just trying to keep everybody safe in the office,” Prodan said.
At the end of July, 2020, the commissioners decided to reduce Prodan’s salary by roughly $4,000, from $16,000 to $12,000 and cut her benefits. Prodan immediately began requesting that they reinstate both her benefits and salary, and after several months of advocating for herself, commissioners agreed to increase her salary to a flat $18,000 but did not reinstate her benefits. Prodan said it still amounted to a reduction overall. Prodan is once again requesting that her salary and benefits be reinstated to what they were originally.
The new human resource officer, Tiffany Baker, was officially approved for hire on May 18, prior to the hiring of Whitworth. Baker was recommended by Magoon and the other members of the hiring committee out of four applicants.
Simultaneously to the hiring of Whitworth and the start of the investigation, Magoon took a Family and Medical Leave of Absence.
Commissioner Terry Brann, District 1, said the situation has been confusing and he feels the commissioners have been kept “in the dark” about a lot of the details. He said he was under the impression that they were hiring a new human resource officer to eventually replace Magoon, who he said may be retiring soon.
“I sometimes wonder who is running the show,” he said. “How would you like it if you were running a business, paying money for an investigation and not know what it’s about?”
Commissioner Clyde Barker, District 3, refused to comment.
