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  Chairman Kneece takes hard line on use of county vehicles, comp time web posted April 16, 2008 COUNTY – Edgefield County Council Chairman Monroe Kneece took some hard line stands after the budget workshop Tuesday night that drew the ire of at least one councilman. Among the issues Chairman Kneece brought up for discussion was county employees that were allowed to drive home county vehicles have been abusing the privilege and that salaried employees are being allowed to build up “comp time” when they are already on a set salary. Chairman Kneece stated he has been informed that certain county vehicles were being seen used by certain department heads in places they should not be and the use of the vehicles was costing the county a lot of money due to the cost of gas. That drew the ire of Councilman Willie Bright who asked if Mr. Kneece had any “facts” to support the claims or was it just supposition. Chairman Kneece said he was acting on information he was being provided from several sources and perhaps the county vehicles should be parked at the end of the day and employees should drive their own vehicles to and from work. Mr. Bright and Mr. Kneece debated the matter and Kneece said he withdrew his concern and instructed Administrator Pettigrew to launch an investigation into the employee or employees in question. “That should settle any questions,” Kneece said. Another matter Chairman Kneece brought up was how salaried employees, which are department heads, are being allowed to get “comp time” that is reserved for hourly workers. Mr. Kneece said it has come to his attention that a department head is taking time off by using comp time when they are not paid by the hour and wants the practice to end. Vice-chairman Willie Bright said that comp time has to be approved by the department heads. Chairman Kneece pointed out that the case in point was a department head and that is why he brought the matter up and stated that he did so because he wanted to bring it to the attention of Administrator Pettigrew. “This is something I’m bringing up because you (Pettigrew) are in charge of it,” Kneece said. Mr. Pettigrew said it has been a county policy for some time and he was aware it was occurring. Mr. Kneece stated it needed to come to an end and that office hours need to be set and adhered to. Mr. Pettigrew said it did not affect the cost because the employee was working but was making the hours up at “a later time”. Chairman Kneece said that was not the case. “They end up cooking the thing for an hour a day, and sometimes more than that.” Mr. Pettigrew said that he did not believe the employees were coming and going as they wanted to which Mr. Kneece shot back, “I think they are.” Chairman Kneece said he wanted the issue to be placed on the agenda for the May meeting. A member of the pubic in attendance reminded the council that there is already a county ordinance setting the office hours of county offices. Mr. Kneece said he wanted to address the matter again because it is not being enforced. “The ordinance ain’t worth a dime if you don’t’ enforce it,” Kneece said. EdgefieldDaily.com has a report that will be published soon on a particular department head that has taken an extrordinary amount of time off. In full disclosure, this information has not been shared with any member of the Edgefield County Council and no member is aware of the information obtained during our investigation. ©
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