Residents Support Hiring FCS Agent
Approximately
36 people came to the Glasscock County Commissioners’ Court meeting Aug. 12 to
show their support for hiring Charlene Belew as the county’s Extension Agent
for Family and Consumer Science. That job has been vacant since May 2001, and no
effort has been made to fill it, though the county’s portion of the salary
($8,000) and expenses ($5,600) is still budgeted.
Kim Halfmann, speaking on behalf of the group at the meeting, said Belew
is highly qualified and would bring both experience and continuity to the job.
She said Belew grew up here, and has come back to the area with the intention of
staying. Halfmann said Belew would put her three children in school here,
providing a badly needed enrollment increase. She said the County Agent for
Agriculture, Steve Sturtz, is spread too thin, and an additional agent would
provide needed relief for him. Halfmann said Belew would do more than 4-H work,
providing help with senior citizens’ and various other programs of benefit to
the whole county. Belew, who is the daughter of Glasscock Co. residents
Dennis and Debbie Schraeder, is currently the FCS agent in Upton County, where
her husband manages the Midkiff Farmers’ Coop store.
Keith Batla, Bobbie McDaniel, Donna Donica and Hubert Frerich each spoke
in favor of hiring Belew, and Halfmann said she has signatures of 121 county
residents who are also in support of the hiring.
Sturtz told the court that the extension service must be notified that
the county wants the job opened again, and it must be officially opened before
anyone can be hired. The court took no action in the matter, but will presumably
act on it Aug. 20.