Sheriff David Taylor wants Union County Council to cut his salary.

During his 2008 campaign, Taylor promised that if elected he would ask council to cut his salary by $5,000 and use the money to set up an employee assistance program. In January, he took the first step toward keeping that promise by asking council to cut his salary and use the money to help his deputies and their families deal with the stress of working in law enforcement. Council is considering Taylor’s request.

Taylor said the program would be similar to one offered in Spartanburg County. He said he became aware of these programs while working for the Spar-tanburg County Environmental Services. The services provided by the program was often the difference between retaining an employee or dismissing them.

“It used to be years ago that the only way for dealing with an employee who was having problems was termination,” he said. “An employee assistance program provides services that can prevent a situation from reaching the point where you have to fire someone. It’s a cost-effective way of salvaging a good employee.”

The program would provide an array of services such as anger management courses, marital counseling and financial counseling for employees and their families.

“Say there was a child in a family that had attention deficit disorder or a learning disability,” Taylor said. “The program could provide the family with services to help them cope with that situation at no cost to the employee.”

Taylor said the need for an employee assistance program was demonstrated by the reaction of personnel involved in the Maria Fernandez case. Ms. Fernandez, a 31-year-old nurse employed at Ellen Sagar Nursing Home, disappeared Sept. 3. Her skeletal remains were found Jan. 7 off High Point Road near Carlsle.

“I’ve heard some comments on how tragic the scene was with the remains found in the condition they were,” he said. “When you have a long drawn-out case like this one that lasts four months the sting of the hurt involved weakens. Finding the body brought those early emotions back and forces the personnel involved in the investigation to have to deal with the tragedy of the situation.

“Even with all their training and experience law enforcement personnel can’t just shrug off things like this,” he said. “We’re human, we can’t do that.”