by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
When asked from his perspective as clerk of the courts to rank the recently completed legislative session on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being fabulous and one being a nightmare, Jim Fuller paused for a minute.
It might have been good public relations for Fuller to say the session was a six or a seven, but then again he did spend all of last week in Tallahassee lobbying lawmakers and trying to convince them not to cut his budget any more than it has already been slashed.
“I am not sure how the bills will turn out, they are not finalized yet,” said Fuller, who is out of the office again this week serving as one of several vice chairs of The Players Championship. “I would probably give it a four. They (the Legislature) changed some of our money and cut my budget.”
Fuller admits some tough personnel decisions may be coming in the near future. Then again, if he can get the union to work with him and implement some of the measures other clerks across the state are taking, Fuller may not have to let anyone go. Fuller did say his office will continue to function at all levels.
“The taxpayer won’t notice the cuts,” he said. “They will still get the same level of service.”
Fuller said once he gets his final budget numbers from Tallahassee, he’ll evaluate his staff, determine who has seniority, who belongs to a union and several other factors that will have bearing on any future decisions. He doesn’t want to see anyone lose their job, but Fuller may ask some employees to work an hour less a week or take a one-day furlough each month – two of the measures other clerks of court have already instituted in order to hold down operating costs.
“I laid off a couple of my appointed people a couple of weeks ago,” said Fuller. “Depending on the numbers, we may not have to do anything. I hate to lay people off. It’s just not good to do.”
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