MC's hiring 'freeze' proves to be bogus; 1300 employees added

Montgomery County added 1,300 employees at a cost of $25 million to $30 million to its payroll during a two-year hiring freeze, according to a government employees union. Though most of the new hires have been for public safety officials or seasonal summer workers, the county added more than 300 new full-time workers who aren't in public safety, according to county staff. Municipal and County Government Employees Organization President Gino Renne said the county had "no business" hiring those 300 new employees with the county's finances so bad. The county faces a budget gap of more than $760 million, and the union expects "hundreds" of layoffs, wage reductions and possible furloughs in County Executive Ike Leggett's proposed budget. "They called a hiring freeze ... but they ignored it, and they just kept hiring and they're still hiring," Renne said. SOURCE: Washington Examiner