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He said that the employees speak with authority to the public, and hopefully the press knows the Board's history and will set the information straight. He thinks the Board has done what it can for the employees, and not necessarily what they really wanted. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like not to rely on the press, but to directly communicate from the Chair to the employees what has been done over the last five years. He asked the staff to tell the Board how much money was requested versus how much was received and the rate of increase for County appropriations for the last five years. Commissioner Gordon said that, in terms of the Classification and Pay Study, the Board fully funded the Manager's recommendation. She recalls that the Board completely funded what the Manager recommended. There were resources put in for employees, but it was not in-range and other increases. She suggested a reworking of the chart, showing the employees that were employed after 04/18/03. She said that the way the chart is presented has an influence on the way people perceive it. She would like to make it clear that the 204 did not get increases because they were not employed at the time. John Link clarified that the majority of the employees received at least phase 1 and same received phase 2 and a lesser number received phase 3, based on the number of years worked for Orange County. Employees who came after the plan was effective received the 2°~ COLA last October. He said that he listened carefully to the employees that spoke at the public hearing. He thinks all employees appreciate the issues faced by the County over the last few years and they are just asking that the employees be considered also. The cost of living is increasing, and the in-range is important because it is how people move up the ladder based on years of experience. He said that the staff spent a lot of time sending out letters to employees at the point of implementing the Classification and Pay Plan, explaining who would be qualified for each phase and who would not be. He would be glad to follow up on those who did not receive this information because they were not employed at the time. Commissioner Jacobs said that he was at a meeting today of the Association of County Commissioners about how the Association can do a better job of communicating. This is another example of how the County can improve its methods of communication to its employees. Chair Carey said that there will always be employees that are angry because they were not included, but he knows what the Board has done and the Board will always do well by the employees. Elaine Holmes continued with her presentation (above). Commissioner Gordon asked for clarification on the compression issue. Elaine Holmes said that in order to keep compression from getting worse, there needs to be an ongoing way far employees to move up in the salary range. She said that in the February work session report, she provided some specific examples of compression situations. Commissioner Foushee asked for the number of long-term temporary employees that have been here for longer than one year. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he had asked Elaine Holmes to pull together statistical information on the County employees' salaries. He was trying to balance this with an article in the News and Observer. The article says that the State is horrible to its employees. He was struck by the fact that over 2t3 of the entire State work farce is making less than $38,000 a year. He asked what percentage of the County's work force was making less than $38,000 a year. Elaine Holmes said that about 60% of County employees make $40,000 or below.