In an interesting turn of events Friday morning at the Carbon County administration building, a number of employees from the county’s office of tourism and the economic development department were allegedly let go from their positions by the commissioners just minutes before a special budget meeting started. It has been reported that several department heads will be let go in an effort to reorganize county departments. These individuals will allegedly be allowed to re-apply for positions once the reorganization has been established.
Benjamin Clement with the Carbon County GIS Department confirmed that he was also notified Friday morning and that the entire GIS Department is reportedly being let go as well. Clement declined to comment further on the situation.
When asked for comment by ETV 10 News, Commissioner Jake Mellor stated that, “In an effort for increased efficiency in a county burdened with legacy expenditures from past years of projects, Carbon County is in the process of investigating possible departmental consolidations and doing a full review of employee duties and responsibilities.”
County Attorney Christian Bryner issued the following statement to ETV 10 News:
“The County Commission cannot make public nor confirm the names or identities of any employees whose employment may be terminated in conjunction with the 2018 budget. Final decisions have not yet been made regarding the restructuring of County departments. The budget that was made public today was only a tentative budget. The County Commission is still required to hold a public hearing on its 2018 budget, which will take place on December 13, and is required to take into consideration the comments made at that public hearing before approving and passing a final budget. The County Commission will not comment at this time as to how many, if any, employees will be terminated in conjunction with the passage of the final budget.”