Highway engineer answers critics
It goes without saying that last week's lockout of Perry County Highway Department employees--prompted by no short-term supervision while the engineer was on vacation-- hit a nerve with some employees. It prompted a one-page anonymous letter to the Du Quoin Evening Call by a whistleblower who criticizes the county's use of an outside attorney, leasing a $4,500 tar machine, selling scrap for cash and engineer Brian Otten's time away from the office.
Otten spoke to the newspaper Monday morning and addressed the criticism.
The letter takes issue with a commissioner's remark that he did not find out about the lockout until after a recent county board meeting. County Clerk Josh Gross says Otten informed the board of his planned work stoppage and that outside attorney Rhett Barke concurred based on language in the contract. The letter criticizes the county for not relying on State's Attorney David Stanton, already on the payroll, but Stanton is largely a criminal, corporate and family attorney who manages the day-to-day legal issues of the county. Barke specializes in labor law and was recently hired as an outside counsel to negotiate the payback of monies owed to the City of Du Quoin by the school district. "It would be interesting to know how much the outside attorney has cost the taxpayers," the letter suggests.
County Clerk Gross looked up Barke in the county vendor files and says the county has spent $6,100 since March when Barke came onboard.
The letter also criticizes Otten for the department being down while the county is leasing a "tar machine" for $4,500. Otten said the county actually has a tar machine "we are going to get rid of because when the oil gets cold it clogs up the nozzle and the line " that feeds it.
"Plus, you can't get oil for it and the guys say when they blade snow it comes up," he adds, saying the department leases a better machine for a month.
The letter goes on to say the county is leasing mowing equipment that is not being fully utilized.
The most serious allegation of the letter says: "Brian Otten has the men load scrap steel and haul it to T & T Recycling in Hurt. He tells the men to get cash. This summer he had the men load four semi-trailers from T & T with scrap. He said he needed cash to put in the petty cash fund so he could pay the secretary (Beth Lipe) for cleaning the office. Apparently instead of having her clean the office while on te clock he is paying her cash for after hours work. The men if they want a clean lunchroom or bathrooms they have to make time ever few weeks to do that. He never assigns anyone to do this job. It would be interesting how they are handling the accounting of his cash since thousands of dollars worth of scrap have been sold on his watch."
Otten did not deny that this has been done, saying the money does go into a petty cash fund to pay for incidentals of the department. "It's less than a thousand dollars."
When County Clerk Gross was told about this, he said there will be a better accounting policy put in place.
The letter goes on to question Otten's time away from the office and asks if he runs home while his wife is out on a call as a physical or occupational therapist.
The letter ends with, "There have been times when Brian Otten, Rueben Davis and Beth Lipe have all been off and the men did their job."
On the lockout issue, Otten said he asked attorney Barke to cite the contract and work it out with the staff. "I told him if he couldn't work it out I'd find some other way."
The work stoppage began a week ago Friday and lasted only until last Tuesday. The office was closed Wednesday for Veterans Day and everyone has been working since.