By Benjamin Rothstein

DOVER — Kent County Levy Court approved the fiscal year 2025 budget Tuesday after several weeks of deliberation.

The nearly $40 million general fund budget covers county staff, operations for libraries and parks, aid to volunteer fire companies and more. On the nearly $8 million capital budget side of things, the county is moving toward the construction of Emergency Medical Services stations in Harrington and Frederica and the replacement of some county vehicles

Part of the general fund budget is the elimination of a single position, the Geographic Information System administrator.

The position, held by Hannah Morris, will last until the new budget goes into effect July 1. Prior to the vote Tuesday, Ms. Morris’ father and local attorney Gregory Morris appeared before Levy Court to protest the county’s alleged mistreatment of his daughter.

“The reason why I’m here tonight is I want to speak up in regards to (the budget) ... apparently you are eliminating one position, GIS administrator. That position is held by my daughter and I think she’s been treated unfairly,” said Mr. Morris. “And as a parent at some point you have to stick up for her.”

Mr. Morris said his daughter graduated from college just after the onset of COVID-19 and was hired by the county in 2021 after he recommended she apply.

He said Ms. Morris, who worked with mapping software, loved her job but alleged that power struggles in between departments led to the county not knowing where to place her. Eventually, Mr. Morris says his daughter was asked which department she wanted to be in, to which he says she replied that they should create a new one for her.

“I think that’s a perfect answer because they couldn’t decide where to put her. She was laughed at,” said Mr. Morris. “(They) said ‘Watch what you wish for, Hannah. We’ll have to let you go.’ Within minutes of that meeting, she called me. I said ‘Hang in there. It’s going to work out, I promise you.’”

She would eventually learn of the county’s upcoming budget plan that would eliminate her position after she had just purchased a home and became pregnant.

Mr. Morris said Ms. Morris calculated her time off to make sure that, based on the baby’s due date, she would have enough to last her through July 1. That plan was rendered moot when Ms. Morris had her baby five weeks early.

Mr. Morris thanked the employees who donated time off to help Ms. Morris extend her leave and eventually the county did grant her time through July 1.

After the birth of her child, Ms. Morris asked her father to go by the Levy Court offices in Dover and grab something from her desk. When he arrived, he said her desk had already been packed up in cardboard boxes, despite the fact the budget and her position’s elimination were not official yet.

“If you’re eliminating one position, there’s something this county could have done and should have done,” said Mr. Morris in closing. “I think (she) would be a great employee for 30 years here and she wasn’t given an opportunity. I’m not up here begging for her job. And she didn’t ask me to ... even if all you vote to somehow reinstate her ... she would have a target on her back when she came back.”

Mr. Morris asked the commissioners to give Ms. Morris a call to hear her side of the story.

Commissioner Jody Sweeney asked where the $370,000 that the county is still spending on GIS salary is going, to which county administrator Ken Decker responded that a GIS team still exists within the county, but Ms. Morris’ position was under the information technology department. The outsourcing of the position takes away Ms. Morris’ salary from that department and moves the estimated contractual equivalent to the GIS department. On top of that, Mr. Decker felt there were even more fundamental issues with the GIS administrator position.

“One of the reasons we can save money is that we don’t need 40 hours’ worth of work a week in GIS administration. We can live on considerably less than that,” said Mr. Decker. “We appreciate Mr. Morris’ heartfelt plea, but if we have an employee that has 10 hours of work a week and nothing new for 30 hours, I think we owe it to the 326 other employees who do 40 hours’ worth of work a week to try to look for some creative solution in that regard.”

Mr. Decker also noted that if Ms. Morris were to apply for other positions within the county, she would gain priority for hiring per county personnel rules.

Put to a vote, all commissioners voted yes except for Commissioner Sweeney, who voted no to protest the elimination of Ms. Morris’ position. Commissioner Allen Angel also noted that he did not support the position’s elimination but voted yes to approve the budget.