Treasurer Denny Munksgard made two claims regarding the Register and Recorder’s Office during a salary board meeting last week that merit some further thought.

First, and most important, is the still undecided question of spending taxpayer money on salary and benefits for a position in the Register and Recorder’s Office that may not need to be full time in the first place. Commissioners tabled the discussion on benefits for a worker in the Register and Recorder’s Office. What’s going on in the office that merits an additional half-time position? Are there additional reporting requirements that are tying up a staff members’ time? Can the additional position get county residents the records they’re looking for faster?

Second, First, unless there is proof of an obvious workplace rules violation regarding excessive chit-chat time in the office, Facebook use or Amazon shopping, we wish Munksgard had kept those claims to himself. It’s not that we take issue with frank discussions amongst elected officials. Quite to the contrary, we wish sometimes elected officials were more frank with each other and with the public.

But there is certain tone that is necessary in these discussions for them to be productive. What happened last week, unfortunately, was not productive. Munksgard may have a point, but it’s easy to disregard his point as a personality conflict absent proof of his claims.