Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010

Library cuts, retiree benefits and new signs

The chairwoman of the Wake County Library Commission says her staff ran 87 scenarios and that closing the Garner library was the least painful way to save $800,000.

Seriously? Eighty-six other scenarios proved more painful than closing Garner's only public library? I stand to be corrected, but I just find that hard to believe.

Which is to say that I'd like to see the 86 other scenarios. I suppose they included closing every other library in Wake County. On that criteria, the Garner library would come up short. It has fewer visitors than its peers, and its cost per visitor is higher. But Wake County doesn't have 87 libraries, so what, exactly, were the other scenarios? Did the library system consider cutting the wages of all employees or reducing their hours? Did it consider asking employees to pay a greater share of their health insurance or their retirement pay? I can't imagine that those scenarios would be worse than closing a town's only library.

Of course it's possible that talk of closing the Garner library is simply a political ploy, designed by the library system to pressure county commissioners into keeping funding at its current level.

The good news is that county commissioners will make the final decision. We trust they'll have all of the information they need when they do so.

I can't see that Johnston Health had any choice but to end health insurance for future retirees.

An accounting-rule change means the hospital, and other public bodies, will have to start booking future payouts as current expenses. This year alone at Johnston Health, the expense for retiree health care would have jumped from $450,000 to more than $3 million. This hospital doesn't have that kind of money.

That's not the fault of the hospital's hundreds of dedicated employees. In good faith, they joined the hospital staff believing that health insurance in retirement would be among their benefits. They no doubt feel wronged, even lied to. And many will no doubt have to work more years than they planned to.

But Jim Perpich, the hospital's marketing chief, is right. Benefits are just like wages: They can go up, down, even disappear altogether, as in layoffs, which hospital employees know all too well.

Health insurance in retirement was a great benefit, one that allowed Johnston Health to recruit and keep many good employees for many. Unfortunately, it's also a benefit the hospital can no longer afford.

A friend of mine found himself on the courthouse grounds in Johnston County as the recent snow and ice piled up. He wondered aloud why the jail inmates weren't out clearing the sidewalks and parking lots.

It's a good question. Here's one answer: Had my friend slipped on the ice and, say, broken his wrist, his insurance company would have paid for the emergency-room visit, assuming of course that he had insurance. Had an inmate fallen, that ER bill would have gone to the taxpayers of Johnston County.

I'm not saying that's right, but that's the way it is.

Most folks know the Record moved with its sister paper, The Herald, from its longtime home on South Fourth Street. But they're not quite sure where to find our new home, at 228 E. Market St. in downtown Smithfield.

Most folks immediately go, "I know where you are," when I tell them that we're next door to Gandolfo's, the popular sandwich shop, which has added coffees, by the way. But not everyone likes cold cuts, so for them, I'm happy to report that we've added some signage to help folks who need to stop by the office.

A new awning and curbside sign both say The Herald and The News & Observer. The freestanding sign also lists the Garner-Clayton Record.

The sign and awning look great, by the way, and I want to tip my hat to the folks at Lee's Signs and Custom Canvas Work. I trust you'll find our new look helpful.