Hieronymus: ‘We've reached our limit.'
PRINCETON — Bureau County Clerk Kami Hieronymus will not appeal a recent court decision to dismiss her complaint against the county board.
On July 24, LaSalle County Circuit Judge Joseph Hettel granted a motion to dismiss Hieronymus’ third amended complaint against the Bureau County Board for cutting $18,000 from her clerk hire budget. The judge dismissed the third amended complaint with prejudice, meaning there couldn’t be a fourth amended complaint. However, Hieronymus was given 30 days to appeal Hettel’s decision.
On Thursday, Hieronymus said she’s letting it go. The judge made it clear when the courts may and may not interfere with a county board’s decision, which is basically when things are not getting done in her office, she said.
“We’re teetering not far from that now,” Hieronymus said. “We’ve reached our limit.”
Hieronymus said the purpose behind her complaint was to be proactive and to not wait until a bad situation occurs before addressing the staff funding issue. Businesses and individuals depend on the county clerk’s office for many legal documents and services. When things don’t get done, and done correctly and in a timely fashion, the county is opening itself for lawsuits, she said.
“I don’t want to get to that level,” Hieronymus said. “That’s why I pursued this complaint in the first place. If we can’t do our job, then there is an extremely high possibility of lawsuits.”
Looking at how she will handle the $18,000 cut, Hieronymus said she doesn’t know. She’s hoping to avoid cuts in staff and/or hours, but it’s not as if she has a cushion from her other accounts which can be transferred for salaries.
Hieronymus said she doesn’t operate with a large financial cushion. That’s not the purpose of her budget. In the past, the county board has given her what she needs to operate but not to an excess.
As of this point, Hieronymus has not made any cuts in her staff or their hours. But that $18,000 lack in her budget will start to be felt in September. If she doesn’t have enough money to issue paychecks, she doesn’t know what will happen, the county clerk said.
In light of her clerk hire budget cut, Hieronymus questioned the county board’s decision to give raises this year. If the county is so financially broke, why were raises given, she asked. She’d rather keep her entire staff, at their previous wages, than lose people, she said.
“We aren’t high paid; I know that,” Hieronymus said. “But if we can’t afford raises, then we can’t afford raises. I need people here in this office to do the work mandated for us to do.”
Looking ahead to the November election, Hieronymus said over-worked and understaffed conditions could lead to mistakes, which has happened in other counties and states.
When office employees are under a lot of pressure and overworked, that’s when you have more of a chance of things not getting done right, Hieronymus said.
Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.
