THAT'S LEADERSHIP

GE&P has scores of friends who work for Berkeley County government. Over the last couple of years, we have observed the wringing of hands and the gnashing of teeth as these folks suffer under their pay cuts coming in the form of unpaid furlough days. These employees understood their sacrifice was necessary because of the budget crunch the county was experiencing.

Well, GE&P has stumbled upon some very interesting facts.

Before the primaries, the election commission sends out documents to each county listing the salaries for all elected positions and the amount of the filing fees for each. Filing fees are 4% of the yearly salary.

According to these documents, in 2006, when Supervisor Dan Davis paid his filing fee, the salary for that position was listed as being $113,650.54. Today, these documents list the yearly salary of the BC Supervisor as being $131,448.18. If our calculator is correct, that's a pay increase of $17,797.64 in just three years.

We understand from county employees that all cost of living and merit raises are frozen and have been for a while. We are still checking with the members of County Council to find out if and when this raise was approved. We have yet to find one who has any knowledge of this subject.

GE&P has a question: If the county is in such dire financial straights that it's having to force county employees to take unpaid furlough days, how did Mr. Davis manage to end up with a $17,797.64 pay raise? Just asking.