From County Board to high-paid temp

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See a sampling of others who retired then returned to work

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Retired Douglas County Board member Bill Green had been drawing a county pension for 18 years when he lost more than $1 million in a Ponzi-like scheme in 2008.

Then 81 years old and facing the prospect of defaulting on his $600,000 mortgage, Green reached out to friends for help, including Douglas County Engineer Tom Doyle.

Doyle hired Green as assistant chief deputy county engineer — a job that had not existed for 14 years. Doyle created the post under a special part-time work program the County Board established in 2000.

Retired county employees and elected officials such as Green can work up to 20 hours per week with no penalty to their pension. They don't continue to pay into the pension fund or receive additional fringe benefits.

County officials don't need to advertise the jobs, and each official has the flexibility to set the pay rate. Some jobs are temporary and others are longer-term.

Doyle set Green's hourly pay at $50, later raising it to $51.07. He said his hiring of Green, who was the county's surveyor-engineer before his 20-year stint on the County Board, was not a handout.

"Bill is very qualified and a very valuable public employee," Doyle said. "This is not a political payoff."

Green, now 85, put in the full 20 hours every week last year, according to county records. He was paid a total of $53,113, on top of his $12,085 pension.

Green made more from his part-time job than about 1,300 full-time county employees made last year.

About two dozen retirees, including office clerks, bailiffs, sheriff's deputies and care staff at the health center, have worked for the county at least one year as part-time help.

Some offices bring retirees back part time for several months, usually to help train their replacements or to fill a void in a highly skilled or technical position.

For instance, Kent Holm, environmental services director, rehired a landfill supervisor and the planning and zoning coordinator when they retired last year. He gave each of them a small raise to stay a while longer.

"I was looking at them as helping in the transition," he said.

Holm said the landfill supervisor should be done by spring, now that his successor has been hired. Holm is still evaluating whether to fill the other position.

"Believe me, I am not looking to have someone who is a 10-year temp," he said. "Both of these were not intended to be permanent temporary staff."

Green is in his fourth year as a part-timer. He is the only retiree making at least $50 per hour. The next-highest-paid retired part-timer earned about $36,000 last year.

County Personnel Director Lee Lazure said it's up to department heads and elected officials to set the pay rates.

"You need to pay the person for the job level, their background, education," Lazure said. "Oftentimes it's a judgment call, and it's a real balancing act. You want to be fair and correct."

Doyle said Green's pay is "in line" with other top supervisors on his staff.

Doyle said he has known Green since the 1950s, and the two have been friends since the 1960s. From 1958 to 1970, Green held the same elected position that Doyle has held since 1983.

Doyle said Green performs various administrative tasks previously handled by managers and administrators involved in surveying, road maintenance and budgeting.

"Bill's duties were spread around to a lot of other people," Doyle said.

Doyle said he has enough work to keep Green busy.

According to Green and Doyle, Green has been overseeing a bank stabilization project along Hell Creek north and south of Harrison Street, near 110th Street, and the replacement and rehabilitation of some bridges in western Douglas County.

He coordinates safety programs and reviews land plats and surveys on county road projects, monitors project expenses and controls costs, including overtime. He also visits county subdivisions to inspect snow removal, and handles complaints.

On Monday, Green rode along with other engineer staff to inspect the county's snow-removal efforts in the neighborhoods.

"If I felt I was freeloading, I could not do that. If I felt my experience and knowledge isn't of benefit to them, I really would not want to be here," said Green, who previously owned a sand and gravel business. "I know the county highway system like the back of my hand. It's not like I was walking in cold."

County Board members Mike Boyle and P.J. Morgan said it's not their role to question how another elected official determines someone's pay level or whether a job is needed.

"Mr. Doyle, as an elected official, he manages his office, and he answers to the people," said Morgan, who served with Green on the County Board in the late 1970s. "I have the utmost respect for Bill Green. No one has the expertise and knowledge that compares with Bill Green. It's Tom Doyle's decision who he hires and what he does."

Boyle agreed.

"The taxpayers are getting the benefit of an awful lot of knowledge with people like Bill Green," Boyle said. "But in tight economic times, we really do need to scrutinize everything. No question about it when you have to balance tight budgets."

During the down economy, Doyle's office has held steady with about 75 full-time workers. Payroll has remained flat the past two years at about $3.8 million, said County Finance Director Joe Lorenz.

Besides Green, Doyle has four other retirees on his payroll. They made between $16,200 and $25,866 last year. Although Doyle and Green are both longtime Democrats, Doyle is an equal-opportunity employer: He also gave Republican Dena Kowal a part-time job.

Kowal had worked for the county for 33 years when she retired in 2007 as an office manager in the Assessor's Office. The previous year, Kowal unsuccessfully challenged her boss, Assessor Roger Morrissey, for the post.

"When I retired, I thought I was ready, but then I just felt too young to be retired," said Kowal, now 57. "I'm a people person, and I have always felt the county is a great place to work."

Kowal had been sending out résumés, she said, when she bumped into Doyle — who told her he had a job available.

Kowal, who made $34 per hour full time, now makes $20.70 hourly as an office clerk, making a total of $20,696 last year.

At age 81, Green said he went back to work "out of necessity."

He and his wife lost more than $1.18 million in investments with Omaha businessman Bryan Behrens, according to federal court documents.

Behrens was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $6.8 million in restitution for defrauding 25 investors. The Greens have a lawsuit pending against Behrens and his subsidiary, Sunset Financial Services.

The Greens still owed the bank on their $600,000 loan for a home they built in 2004 along the Platte River.

"Overnight I went from being a millionaire to having less than $5,000," Green said. "It was a complete shock. It was horrible. I lost about 40 pounds in two weeks. ... I decided I was going to work again and find some job."

Green said the job has allowed him to avoid foreclosure as he struggles to sell his house during a sluggish real estate market. The 6,000-square-foot home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a three-car garage and an acre of land.

After finding no takers when listing the house at more than $800,000, Green said the price "is negotiable."

The county job has helped clear his mind, he said.

"Working in Tom's office, this is really one of my loves," Green said. "These people were so open-hearted when I came to work here."

Doyle said he hasn't talked to Green about how long he'll stay on.

As a County Board member in 1983, Green pushed to appoint Doyle to the engineer's post after Lou Lamberty resigned. Doyle has since won re-election to seven terms.

"I have no complaints with him at all," Doyle said of Green. "As long as his health is there, and he's willing to be there, we've got something to do."

Green, who will turn 86 in June, is five years older than his boss, who turns 81 in March.

Doyle joked that, at their ages, "We don't sign up for extended warranties."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1056, john.ferak@owh.com

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