Charleston County Council was not at its best at its April 1 meeting.
The issue of posting employees’ salaries on the county’s Web site was revisited. After lengthy debate, the same conclusion was reached as at the March 11 meeting.
At that time, the council’s finance committee had agreed to post the salaries of county staff earning $50,000 and above a year. Those working for elected or appointed officials would also be posted but only with the agreement of the office head.
Somewhere along the way, a word was left out of the resolution and the matter was brought up again at the April 1 council meeting. That meant those in attendance heard the arguments all over again, with the same result.
County Administrator Allen O’Neal did say that he had set aside $300,000 in the upcoming budget for a salary study. This seemed to be generally applauded as it had been the council’s intent for some years to conduct such a study.
But Council Chairman Teddie E. Pryor Sr., unhappy about the posting of any salary figures, warned of the possible outcome of the study. If there are major and unjustified differences in the pay of personnel, bringing them in line could cost the county plenty, he warned.