Commissioner Martin now working for school system
The county commissioner who has long battled school board members over funding issues, including teacher raises, is now working for the school system.
Fifth District Commissioner Michael Martin is working on a temporary contract that has him mowing grass at Warren County schools until the end of October. As a contract employee, Martin isn’t entitled to benefits.
Martin’s employment with the school system is ironic because he has a well-documented history of going toe-to-toe with school officials over any type of budget request that requires additional county funding.
Martin was stripped of his chairmanship of the Policy, Personnel and Legislative Committee last year by County Executive John Pelham after a heated exchange with teachers over pay raises.
And Martin was one of the driving forces behind getting school administrators to turn over the salaries of every employee in the system roughly two years ago.
Even with that recent history, Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale says he doesn’t hold any grudges against Martin.
‘I have no problem with Michael working here,’ said Hale. ‘We had an opening and he applied. I was surprised he applied, but then again you wouldn’t believe the number of people who are applying with the school system, a lot of times because their place of employment is no longer here.’
Martin says he never had a personal vendetta against the school system. He says he was simply fulfilling his obligation as a county commissioner to keep taxes as low as possible.
‘I look at everybody’s budget,’ said Martin. ‘I look at what’s in the budget and what’s in the fund balance, and if there’s money in the fund balance, there’s no reason to raise taxes.’
Martin lost his full-time job when A.O. Smith shut down its McMinnville plant. He said he’s considering going to truck driving school when his contract with the school system ends.
‘The real story is where are the jobs in this town’? said Martin, who added he’s heard noise about new jobs coming to McMinnville but hasn’t seen any of those jobs materialize.
Since Martin’s contract expires in October, he says there will be no conflict of interest with his duties as a commissioner. There aren’t expected to be any votes regarding school system funding between now and the end of October.
Central office employee David Sneed describes Martin as a good worker and says he’s helped in other areas, like cleaning the Centertown School property, in addition to mowing.
‘Maybe he’ll see a different side of it now,’ said Sneed when asked if he thought Martin might change his views on school funding after this job.