After all these years, Lincoln still said it best: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Like it or not, this community rises or falls together. And, lately, the Carter County Commission has been playing a game of tug of war with Planning and Zoning Director Chris Schuettler, who had sought monies for a bonus for himself and his staff for work done while Schuettler served as economic development and project manager for a period of 10 months.
The County Commission rejected four budget proposals presented by Schuettler before agreeing to a budget equal to last year’s plus a 3.5 percent pay increase for employees.
Earlier this month Planning Commission Chairman Jerry Pearman requested the bonus for two different line items in the planning commission budget, which was granted by the county’s budget director, who now says he shouldn’t have written the check. Also, the Carter County Commission took steps this week to reclaim the $14,466.67 bonus paid to Schuettler. The vote to reclaim the bonus was 13-8.
Like him or not, Chris Schuettler has done his job well, and ably took on the duties of economic director and project manager. He is to be credited for bringing the new Watauga Lake development to the county. The job of planning director is not an easy job in this county as we still have people who do not believe in planning and who believe that how they use their land and what they do with it is their business.
Local government has long been divided on just how to do its business. The year’s under the former mayor were rocky from the beginning, but some good things did come out of County Mayor Leon Humphrey’s eight years of service to the county.
We are a county that is a mixture of urban and rural. And, we are a county that has seen its share of bad times. Good paying jobs are lacking. Many of our young people have and are moving away because of the lack of opportunity. What we must realize is that if we move forward we must work together to not only define our problems, but solve them.
Leadership is badly needed…the need for someone to step up and be a problem solver. It is time to lay the cards on the table, and take an honest-to-goodness look at where we are and what needs to be done. We need to set some goals, but we can’t do that until we look at where we want to go.
It is not enough for the county mayor to be a cheerleader, he must be a motivator, a problem solver, a mediator, an economic development director, and know how to soothe ruffled feathers.
Yes, it’s a big job as we are sure Mayor Rusty Barnett is learning. The cards are in his hands. He must now play them. And, the first is mediator, how to bring the commissioners together and point them in the right direction. Prior to being elected mayor, Barnett had many years of experience in putting out fires, literally. He is still fighting fires, just a different and more difficult kind. Problems smolder until they flare up. Then they require heroic efforts to solve.
Until County Commissioners learn to set aside their individual differences and work together, the solutions to our problems will not come. Unity is key to successful leadership.