Butler County Children and Youth Services wants to give 27 percent pay hikes to attorneys who have ties to county government.

However, the county commissioners on Wednesday tabled a motion to increase the contracted rates of attorneys Sue Lope and Ron Thomas until more information was provided to the board.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein opposed giving rate hikes, emphasizing Thomas’ connection to fellow Commissioner Dale Pinkerton.

“I’d like to table it,” Eckstein said.

Thomas, who is the husband of Pinkerton’s administrative assistant Maria Thomas, is paid $3,333 a month. Under the proposed contract, he would be paid $4,250 a month.

Pinkerton, who supported the pay hike, said in an interview it doesn’t matter that one attorney is the spouse of his assistant.

“It has nothing to do with her,” Pinkerton said.

He pointed out Thomas was appointed to the post by county court administration well before he hired his wife.

“I didn’t hire him,” Pinkerton said.

Ron Thomas was appointed in 2006. Maria Thomas, who formerly worked in District Judge Pete Shaffer’s office, became Pinkerton’s assistant in 2012.

Commissioner Bill McCarrier, board chairman, agreed there is no bias as both Ron and Maria Thomas worked for the county before Pinkerton became commissioner.

While Lope, who is the wife of Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope, received the same pay rate as Thomas, she claimed more hours worked.

The contracts pay a flat rate, not by hour for the attorneys’ post of Guardian Ad Litem, which represent the best interest of children in juvenile court dependancy hearings.

Charlie Johns, CYS director, disputed Eckstein’s claim that the attorneys were being paid different rates.

Johns explained Thomas was separately billing county court $60 an hour for time spent on cases that moved to Orphans’ Court.

Tom Holman, deputy court administrator, said Thomas was paid nearly $29,000 in 2014 for that work.

Johns said the proposed contracts would stop that separate billing practice, so the county could end up saving money.

“It is a potential savings,” he said in an interview.

During the meeting, Johns defended the proposed rate hikes for the attorneys. He pointed out the posts have not received an increase since 1994.

Eckstein wasn’t swayed.

“That doesn’t matter to me,” he said.

Eckstein said that argument wasn’t valid since these attorneys did not hold the posts that entire time.

He said the attorneys don’t need more money considering there are signs of deflation, including lower prices at the gas pump.

“All the rest is garbage,” Eckstein said.

McCarrier said the monthly $917 rate increase would be better than giving annual increases all along.

“That’s a one-time increase,” he said during the interview.

The attorneys’ pay is funded 50 percent from the county and 50 percent from the state.

Eckstein accused county court, which appoints the attorneys used by CYS, of selecting its “buddies” to do the work.

He said some of those attorneys end up in trouble with the law, calling them “crooks.”

Holman declined to respond to Eckstein’s claims of favoritism.

“The court has no comment,” Holman said later in the day.

Eckstein claimed CYS purposely blocked him from getting information about the attorneys’ pay and hours.

Johns said he tried to reach Eckstein earlier in the week to provide further information.

“I could not reach him,” Johns said.

Pinkerton disagreed with Eckstein, saying Johns already provided enough data to support his proposal.

“You explained it very well and I understood what you said,” Pinkerton said.

Eckstein insisted Joyce Ainsworth, county human services director, explain why he was denied the information he wanted.

Ainsworth said what Eckstein’s office sought would take time to compile.

“We thought the request was a lot and was unreasonable,” she said.

McCarrier said he decided CYS did not have to provide the information since the request came from Margaret Abersold, Eckstein’s assistant, not the commissioner.

“I made the decision,” McCarrier said.

Eckstein denied Abersold was working on her own.

“You thought Peggy was doing rogue work,” he said.

Eckstein said they were just doing what they should.

“We’re doing our due diligence,” he said.

McCarrier eventually agreed to table a pay increase until the next meeting, which is Feb. 11.