800 employees to get buy outs?
To the editor:
I just read an article concerning the buy out of employees by Lee County and have some questions for our county commissioners.
It is extremely hard to imagine the chaotic mess that may occur from this buyout program that does not target putting the specific needs of our county government before the believed morale problem that might occur if layoffs were made.
The next big question is, are you going to bring back these same folks that took the buyout as contractors so the county will continue to run?
Commissioners, while you may think that this is a good business practice of buying out employees to save some sort of unidentifiable potential morale problem, the problem is that you are not in any business, you are running a government entity for the taxpayers of Lee County.
The taxpayers of Lee County expect that you and your staff will make the tough decisions and lay off the employees and not take the easy road out of having to face employees with layoffs.
I think that Commissioner Bigelow was correct in his assessment of the problem.
I am sorry to hear that the county manager took it to heart that he finally got to hear the message that bad ideas can lead to dismissal.
At least Commissioner Bigelow is looking ahead at what might happen if we lose essential folks and forego giving the layoff slips to employees to slim down the county.
Leo Ames
Matlacha