City finance assistant quits in pay dispute

Carol Wulff, who has been finance assistant for the City of Sisters since November 26, resigned March 28 after only four months.

Wulff claims she was treated unfairly by City Administrator Barbara Warren, a charge Warren denies. Mayor Steve Wilson is aware of the disagreement and believes Warren has acted appropriately.

Wulff said at least one city employee, Finance Officer Laura Deddo, has been given a raise and overtime, while everyone else works under a wage freeze as the city attempts to balance its budget.

"When we were hired we were both told no raises and no overtime," said Wulff. "We both put in long hours, getting things straightened out. But you can't have two sets of rules, tell me I have to take 'comp time' for my overtime and she is getting cash for hers."

City Administrator Warren said it is not true that Deddo and Wulff were told they would not receive raises or overtime.

Warren said she told Deddo that she would get a raise "after I was comfortable that she was comfortable with her job."

Warren made that decision with the last paycheck. As to why Wulff did not receive a raise, Warren said that Deddo's job is much more complicated than Wulff's. Deddo could have been hired at a higher wage in November, Warren indicated, but was not because of city budget issues.

"Some cityies have a certified public accountant doing what Laura is doing," Warren said. "Carol's job was as a clerk."

Warren acknowledges that Deddo received overtime for about 21 hours of work in February, earning an additional $349. But she denied ever telling Wulff and Deddo they would be given comp time instead of overtime.

"Carol chose to take them (her extra hours as comp time) because she was taking vacations...I can't tell them that they can't receive overtime. They have to be allowed to make that choice between overtime and comp time," Warren said.

It was Wulff's choice to take the overtime as comp time instead of money, Warren repeated.

"That is a load of baloney," said Wulff. "We were both told we were to cut overtime and take

comp time because of the 'police problem.' I did. Laura continued to work through lunches and work late. I looked to see if she was being paid overtime and she was."

The "police problem" is a dispute between police officers and the city over the administrator's decision to not pay about $6,000 in overtime and vacation pay last year. That, and changes to the personnel handbook, which serves as the employee contract, has led to an effort by Sisters Police officers to unionize.

As to why Deddo is getting overtime when the city faces budget constraints, Warren explained that extra hours were needed from the finance officer to meet police union requests for payroll records and for additional budget work required as the city attempts to balance expenses and revenues.

As to why Deddo was not brought in for another day to meet the work load instead of being paid overtime, Warren said the extra projects would not require an extra day of regular employment.

The city would have to pay benefits, such as health insurance, if Deddo worked more than 30 hours per week in regular hours, according to Warren.

Since the job would not require more than 30 hours per week after the extra demands were met, it would not be cost effective for the city to employ Deddo for the extra hours