Apples, not oranges

County Clerk Debra Kesecker was right last week when she said it isn’t fair to compare courthouse workers with those who work in private business and industry, as County Commissioner Stacy Dugan apparently did.

While it’s true that most of the courthouse positions are “desk jobs,” they certainly aren’t cushy or overpaid. Anyone who has a desk job or works at a computer all day knows they are often worn out by the end of their working hours. The key is the stress level.

Courthouse employees typically deal with unhappy taxpayers, or people in tough situations due to deaths or court cases, or folks seeking assorted permits and documents, who aren’t quite sure what they really need.
Keeping and updating circuit court files, marriage and divorce records, voter registration lists, development plans, and property appraisals and transactions, not to mention the county budget and payroll, is detailed work. Mistakes can truly screw up people’s lives.

Having dealt with county offices for 35 years as a citizen and journalist, we can say the office staffs have almost always been helpful with whatever came up. The key people in various offices are often more crucial to day-to-day county operations – and know more about their jobs – than the elected officials.

We could add that through the years, we’ve often heard politicians and candidates talk about running government like a business. That always sends up a red flag to us. If they simply mean spending tax dollars carefully, that’s fine, but maybe they should find a different way of expressing it.

Government is not a business. There is really nothing to sell – unless you think that Washington and Charleston influence peddling is just hunky dory. Government has no product other than providing services for all citizens, enforcing the laws and administering duties honestly and openly.

And that’s a hard job.