Swampy Hire in Hillsboro

You may recall that, as part of Ken Waller’s Shutdown Scare in county government in early June, his consigliere, Tony Dorsett, announced his resignation. This was likely supposed to look like he was taking a moral stand against the evil county council. Dorsett announced his resignation on June 7, effective June 22.

But guess who got hired on to a new county job on June 22? Tony Dorsett. He was hired as an attorney in the county collector’s office, with a salary of $90,000. His old salary was $98,000.

I am told that hiring in the county is normally a several-month process. However, in the case of a Waller crony, the whole process took 8 days from when the job opening was posted, and just happened to conclude with a job offer on the day Dorsett left his other position.

I think it is also noteworthy that the hire took place in the Collector’s office, which is run by Beth Mahn, who is running for her 9th term as collector in November. Mahn is part of the politician pay lawsuit, in which some current and former county elected officials are suing the taxpayers to get higher salaries. She memorably defended the lawsuit in an interview with Fox 2’s Elliott Davis in November.

Waller is a friend of the lawsuit. He dropped out as a plaintiff under public pressure, but led the fight to prevent the county council from defending the taxpayers. So, despite the fact that Waller is a Republican and Mahn is a Democrat, it would not be surprising at all to see one of them hand out a job as a favor to the other.

We must also question the human resources office, which is under the Administration office run by Waller pal David Courtway. The HR office is involved in the hiring process, and no job can be awarded (especially not in 8 days) without their involvement.

The point of this hire is to help a crony, perhaps keep him employed after the election, and to poke the eye of the county council, which is apparently Waller’s main role as county executive. But it gives us some insight into how swampy things are in Hillsboro.