Trimming Payroll

Forging ahead with its mission to trim the county payroll, the Spokane County Commission said Friday it had eliminated 11 vacant jobs.

Only five of 16 positions requested by department heads were filled. They were an office administrator in corrections/social services; three office assistants in the public defender’s office, safety/loss control, and parks; and a deputy court clerk.

The jobs that were cut were a computer consultant and personal computer technician, an office assistant in the court clerk’s office; a safety supervisor, paralegal, three administrative jobs in corrections and three jobs in juvenile court.

“These weren’t terminations,” Commissioner Steve Hasson said. “We’re trying to downsize and discipline this organization. It’s been, ‘Let’s run with the wind.’ There’s enough caution on the horizon that tells us to stop living hand to mouth.”

, DataTimes