opinion

Mehr discredits himself, his department in wife’s hire

We’re disappointed that Madison County Sheriff John Mehr has chosen to exacerbate an already inappropriate situation by promoting his wife to a full-time job within his department.

Mehr, who took office in September 2014, hired his wife for a part-time position last fall. She was paid $20 an hour to work 29 hours a week to bring order to the department’s evidence room. The position was not advertised.

This month, we learned that Mehr’s wife has been promoted to a new full-time position to help the department obtain professional accreditation, which could lead to grants and other benefits for the department. Mehr’s wife got a raise to $25.95 an hour, which works out to just less than $54,000 a year.

Again, Mehr’s wife was hired with no job posting or candidate search.

We were critical of Mehr when he hired his wife last fall, and we are even more concerned with his latest decision.

Mehr won a hotly contested election a year ago to take his first term in office, which followed the tumultuous and scandalous end to the tenure of Sheriff David Woolfork.

Mehr ran on a platform that promised to bring ethics, morals, integrity and professionalism back to the Sheriff’s Department.

We fail to understand why Mehr insists on unnecessarily discrediting himself and his department. He has, in effect, thumbed his nose at the residents of Madison County, as well as his employees, who trusted he would deliver on his campaign promises.

Here are just a few points on the list of why Mehr’s decision to hire his wife was ill advised:

•It shouts out nepotism. Even if his wife is qualified for the position, her hiring and the way it was done raises questions about nepotism. Public officials should avoid even the appearance of such practices.

•It represents a potential conflict of interest. Mehr has made a decision that affects the bottom line of his household income by nearly $54,000. Again, public officials should avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest to maintain the integrity and credibility of their offices.

•It puts his employees in an awkward situation. Imagine if questions arose about the job performance of Mehr’s wife. If you were a co-worker or supervisor, do you think you would feel comfortable bringing that to the attention of Mehr?

•It sends a demoralizing message to department employees, many of whom make far less money than Mehr’s wife and some of whom may well have been qualified to do the job Mehr hired his wife to perform.

We know that Mehr is not the only elected official in Madison County who has hired a relative. We believe it is a practice that should be stopped, or at least more tightly controlled by strict hiring procedures.

Mehr’s decision to promote his wife to a full-time job is simply all the more glaring in the context of his campaign promises. We encourage him to reconsider.

TENNCARE MISERY METER

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s, House Speaker Beth Harwell’s and the Tennessee General Assembly’s lack of leadership and urgency and failure to expand TennCare under the Affordable Care Act are bringing misery to an estimated 280,000 Tennesseans who could have received health insurance, including an estimated 30,000 veterans. Meanwhile, the financial stability of hospitals is at risk, and workers could lose their jobs. It is costing Tennesseans an estimated $2.5 million per day. The loss to date is:

$1,983,500,000

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