McKean County District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer had a lengthy response to The Era asking about wages and bonuses approved by the McKean County Commissioners. While parts of her comments are used in a story by Marcie Schellhammer, the following is her statement in its entirety.
In response to your email, first, I must say that the District Attorney’s Office is grateful for any monies that have been allotted to us and I cannot blame any other department head for trying to get money for their employees. But I was very discouraged to hear about these bonuses and high salaries for the public defenders particularly in light of the tax hike that was announced last week in the Era. The District Attorney’s Office encompasses prosecution, victim services and the county detective bureau.
Myself and the other elected officials have to rely on the commissioners to allow us to operate our offices and I am cognizant of that in even responding to your email. I have been warned many times not to speak out against the commissioners. But I have employees currently in union negotiations who are trying to merely maintain their salaries and received pushback from the commissioners. And I am also cognizant of the fact that the commissioners only fund the McKean County Drug Task Force by $9,500 per year when we are in the middle of an opioid epidemic. And we have county employees receiving public assistance. Yet in the same breath, $40,000 in bonuses and exorbitant raises have been approved by these commissioners. You have asked for my response to commissioner Carol Duffy’s statement that the commissioners think the DA’s Office is adequately funded. I’m sure Carol is well-intentioned but overlooking serious needs.
The current salaries and bonuses have created a lot of animosity among courthouse employees and other elected officials. It is discouraging that the prosecution and law enforcement branch of the County is not looked at in the same light. I know other elected officials have contacted the Era. But what’s done is done. This is the situation that has been created. In fact, it was created when the commissioners began approving salaries for certain departments that exceed the state average and far exceeds those of neighboring counties — all on the taxpayer’s dime. Yesterday, another elected official told me, “the commissioners take care of their own.” They were referring to the fact that the public defender’s office reports to the commissioners – one of the salaries that exceeds the state average and surrounding counties by a great deal and who just received a very large bonus. But I don’t fault the attorney for asking for a raise. In fact, it is important to me as a prosecutor that defendants have representation. I think all employees should be treated fairly and that is the issue that seems to keep reappearing. I hate that this situation created by the commissioners has led to animosity among county employees and departments.
Last week, I tried to seek fair compensation for the only full time Assistant District Attorney in the County who has over 30 years of experience and was a former district attorney. He is a gentleman and would not want to be the center of controversy. And, really, no county employee should be but this situation has created a disgruntled work place around county offices. Myself and the other elected officials are at the mercy of the commissioners and, unfortunately, we can see how that is going and it is likely to not improve now that many are speaking out. I have lost prosecutors because of salary and I have been unable to fill a full time position. But, as a department head, I had to find a way to make sure the county’s prosecution needs are met and I arranged for part time assistants.
I had learned the commissioners approved the law clerk’s salary at $72,500. Again, I don’t knock the Court for requesting this. But that is an entry-level position. Carol Duffy said that two law clerk positions were merged into one, but if someone with a full time job can absorb another full time job without working additional hours – then there weren’t really two “full time jobs” to start with. I am sure I will take heat for these comments. But I can assure you that no one in the DA’s Office could absorb another person’s job.
The prosecutors are required to go into the field, advise law enforcement at any time of the day or night, represent the Commonwealth both in and out of the courtroom and make major decisions that can result in serious consequences for offenders. The county has to pay attorneys to represent indigent defendants. The county has opted to have a public defender’s office with full and part time attorneys and then pay private attorneys to take on the rest of the cases. The District Attorney’s Office prosecutes all cases. The public defender’s office and private attorneys paid by the county at $110 per hour represent far less than 50% of the defendants based on review of any given year. The rest are unrepresented or have hired private attorneys.
These numbers really aren’t important to this particular issue – we are talking about fair wages and bonuses after announcing a tax hike.
We learned today that there are 2 full time public defenders – the chief earning $126,000 and another full time public defender who the commissioners approved to earn $78,000 – –$13,000 more than that of the full time assistant district attorney. Additionally, there is a part time public defender. I am sure these attorneys do quality work. As do the private attorneys who are also paid $110 per hour by the county to represent indigent defendants when the public defender’s office asserts a conflict. But the Assistant DAs do quality work as well. The commissioners have set a higher premium on defense than prosecution and law enforcement- and even the drug epidemic. The defense attorney budget between the public defender’s office and the private attorneys paid by the county exceeds the prosecutors’ salaries. In the budget the commissioners have proposed is $200,000 for these private attorneys on top of the salaries of the public defenders. I don’t blame the attorneys for trying to earn the most they can. But, on any given day, the caseload and responsibilities of the prosecutors is different. All department heads fear retaliation for commenting on this and I expect my office and a few others to suffer. But I would be remiss if I did not suggest that our focus should be on the opioid epidemic and quality representation of the Commonwealth. The McKean County Drug Task Force – tasked with the primary responsibility of the county’s major drug trafficking – is funded by the commissioners at $9,500 per year. The Task Force receives some money from the state but the total budget is minimal. The $9,500 given to the task force is appreciated but is a drop in the bucket for the problem. Sadly, it is significantly less than the bonuses that were given out today. We would think the priorities would be different.
I heard that someone in the salary board meeting today said they were being blackmailed with the bonus requests because the public defender had been given a $30,000 raise in the last few years and was now getting a $20,000 bonus. But the commissioners approved the bonuses nonetheless and the buck stops with them. The Judges and District Attorney salaries are set by statute and a large portion of the DA salary is reimbursed to the county by the state but I’m told this was mentioned as a reason to not better-fund the Assistant DA position. I fear that this attitude will continue to result in disparate treatment of my department and other departments that do not report to the commissioners. In fact, the DA’s Office and other offices receive grants and, in some cases, even earn money for the county- but those have never resulted in bonuses. We work for the County – not a for-profit company.
When I hear these bonuses being described in the courthouse as free money or “not taxpayer dollars,” I am sick about this cavalier attitude. Everyone knows nothing is free. It is taxpayer dollars – whether it is our county taxes or state taxes. Should every department who receives grant money get a like amount of funds to use for bonuses? I think we can all agree we should try to avoid windfalls in county government. Yet there should be an effort to treat employees fairly as well.
It was previously conveyed that this money HAD to be spent. But I have been told that the commissioners actually had another year to spend the money on the needs of the various programs that benefit indigent defendants. In fact, the allowable expenses for the grant are easily found on the internet. But Tom Kreiner, Carol Duffy, and Marty Wilder chose to spend this money on bonuses when there were other allotted expenses that could have been paid and that would have resulted in fewer taxpayer dollars being spent on those expenses. Are these performance based or something else? The county controller Jody Bloomquist voted no to these bonuses. He’s the one with the most knowledge about the financial state of the county. But the commissioners should have that same knowledge.
Yesterday, I was told that these bonuses were coming and that it was openly stated that this would be reflected in today’s payroll – even though the meeting was not until today.
To say people in the courthouse are outraged is an understatement and fear retaliation for speaking up. I am fortunate in my salary. But many people who work in the county have to rely on public assistance. In fact, some of their salaries are not much more than the bonuses just approved by the commissioners.
I’m sure there will be an attempt to defend the bonuses and exorbitant salaries and attacks on me and others who have broken the code of silence in the county. I know one elected official was already the victim of a verbal outburst by one of the commissioners for comments he made about this. But the readers can see this for themselves – they can find the average salaries for these positions online and will see that the salaries McKean County pays for law clerks and public defenders are higher than the state average (even when the average includes Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) and the county pays the Assistant District Attorney less. And every department has been unable to fill attorney positions. Very few positions are reimbursed by the state and are, in fact, paid for by taxpayer dollars.
