The South Pittsburg City Hall building is seen on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in South Pittsburg, Tenn.
South Pittsburg City Administrator Sammy Burrows
South Pittsburg City Commissioner Jimmy WigfallSOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - When a couple of employees are off the job for an extended time in a small town like South Pittsburg, work begins to pile up fast.
City Administrator Sammy Burrows said two full-time city employees have had medical problems recently and are "still not doing that well."
At the South Pittsburg City Commission's October meeting, he asked the panel if he could be allowed to hire temporary help "just to kind of get through the situation we're in."
One of the employees works in city hall, while the other is a part of the maintenance department, he said.
The temporary employees could work full time, Burrows said, but that could not exceed a 12-month period.
"We've got taxes coming out this month, and this position [at city hall] is going to be tough because there's a lot to learn," he said. "We need to try to get to a temporary position where we can look and see what we're going to have to do permanently down the road."
Commissioner Jeff Powers asked whether the two current employees are using short-term disability coverage.
"These individuals are using their sick leave right now, and their vacation days," Burrows said.
Commissioner Paul Don King requested starting and ending dates for any temporary employees.
"The starting date would be whenever we could get them," Burrows said. "We needed them yesterday."
Burrows said he had already "made a couple of calls" to see if workers were available, and the city could use a temporary employment service, if necessary.
"When you've got two to three employees gone out of a town of over 3,000, you get into a little bit of a bind," Vice Mayor Jimmy Wigfall said. "It's just a temporary situation that we can resolve without harming [the current employees]."
Wigfall made a motion to hire the temporary employees, but that failed on a 2-2 vote.
Mayor Jane Dawkins, who would have cast the deciding vote, did not attend the meeting.
"This would be something temporary just to get us through," Wigfall said. "We've got tax season coming up. We've got a pool we need to close. We've got a lot of leaves and stuff that are fixing to start falling. We need help really."
Powers and King voted against hiring the temporary employees, but did not comment on their votes.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.