To the Editor:

Citizens of Franklin, I have been silent too long.

After I saw the two positions advertised in the Sunday, Aug. 12, issue of The Tidewater News for a network systems administrator with benefits and an information technology specialist, I couldn’t hold my peace.

The City of Franklin had a capable young man, Cedric Pollard, doing the work of both positions for three years as an independent contractor and all he asked for was to be made permanent with benefits.

But “it’s not in the budget” to hire you permanently with benefits, they say.

Can I get some help, a part-time person, he asks.

They do for a few months, but then “it’s not in the budget” to keep him any longer.

Cedric had to work on his “days off.” Even from his sick bed, he took care of the City of Franklin. His phone rang non-stop. Can a person be sick in peace?

To add insult to injury, a financial director is hired to not only be the finance director, but to supervise him. What kind of IT skills does a finance director have to “supervise” an IT person?

I’m not saying these things because he’s my son, but I have had people who work for the city come up to me in the marketplace and ask about Cedric and to convey how they miss him and wish he was still there because they have been having problems with their computers since he left.

I’m just saying, how come it wasn’t “in the budget” four months ago to offer Cedric a full-time position with benefits, but now somehow you can find it in your budget to hire a full-time network and systems administrator with benefits and an information technology specialist.

I’m just saying! God bless the City of Franklin.

Thelma Pollard
Franklin