Charleston County makes progress with minority pay
Published on 11/12/05
BY robert behre
The Post and Courier
A few weeks ago, Charleston County Council agreed to set a goal to increase the number of minority and female employees who make more than $50,000. This week, members learned that the county already met the 10 percent mark.
The county also has made progress in using minority vendors during the past nine months and already has surpassed council’s goal of giving such firms 10 percent of the county’s discretionary spending.
Still, the news didn’t seem to satisfy some council members who had pushed for the goal. Instead, they grilled the county staff on a decision to clarify the qualifications for some jobs — a line of questioning that caused Council Chairman Leon Stavrinakis to caution them against micromanaging.
“You’ve got to trust your staff. They’re trained. They need to be able to do their job,” Stavrinakis said.
His comments appeared to be directed toward Councilmen Henry Darby and Teddie Pryor, who questioned the personnel director’s decision to clarify what experience is needed for what position. “It tells me you’re trying to dilute the gains we’ve made,” Darby said.
There have been some gains made. On Jan. 1, the county had 15 minority and 58 female employees making more than $50,000, representing 11 percent and 32 percent, respectively, of the entire county workforce earning at least that amount. Nine months later, those numbers had risen to 25 minorities and 74 women, easily surpassing council’s stated goal of having 10 percent of all employees making more than $50,000 be minorities or women.
On the purchasing side, the county spent 8.5 percent of its money with minority-owned firms last year, but that figure has risen to 12 percent during the first nine months of 2005. The county’s spending with female-owned firms, however, slipped from 1.5 percent last year to 0.08 percent so far this year.
“There’s some good news in it,” Councilman Tim Scott said, “(but) we’ve got to move that number up.”
Pryor said if the hiring figures include the Sheriff’s Office and employees of other elected officials, then the figures are misleading because they don’t reflect hiring decisions made under County Administrator Roland Windham’s watch.
The debate about the personnel job descriptions — and whether the county was narrowing its potential applicant pools — drowned out Stavrinakis’ suggestion that the county consider raising its goals
if they’ve already been met. At the urging of other members, Stavrinakis asked County Attorney Joe Dawson to review the changes to job qualifications.
The county also is considering four firms — Quality Management International, Mason Tilman, MGT of America and Miller Consulting Inc. — for a disparity study of the county’s purchasing policies and procedures. Once those study results are in next year, council members could consider moving to quotas instead of goals.
The county also has hired Barrett Tolbert, who formerly worked with the city of Charleston, as its minority- and female-owned business coordinator.
Contact Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com

He gives his kids more than they have the right to expect. What a guy.