Why are there people not working when we have jobs in Butler?

It’s not a complex question, but it’s got the locals worked up, looking for answers.

Maybe it was the person asking, in this case Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel.

Perhaps it was the medium. Boozel posted the question on his Facebook page, where it got thousands of views, more than 200 comments and 40 shares within days.

Perhaps the circumstance had something to do with it. Boozel and co-commissioners Kim Geyer and Leslie Osche were attending a regional meeting of the state Workforce Investment Board, discussing this very topic with officials from Armstrong and Indiana counties, Boozel explained in a live Facebook video Monday afternoon. His 30-minute video is linked to the Butler Eagle’s page and is worth a view.

Boozel said he wasn’t satisfied with the answers the officials were coming up with, so he posted the question to the rank-and-file constituency.

He says the response tells him that he’s not the only one who’s dissatisfied.

“There’s a lot of concern with this issue, a lot of opinions,” Boozel said. “There’s frustration with the system on both sides, employer and employee.”

Much of the frustration is rooted in perceptions and assumptions about hiring and employment. There’s also plain ignorance — about what is and isn’t true, what jobs are available, what they pay, and the qualifications required.

More than one employer, responding to comments that drug tests intrude on privacy, said they don’t even test for drugs.

When the opinions seem to come from everywhere, the facts are hard to discern.

Drugs were the No. 2 concern cited in responses to Boozel’s query. Whether current or past use, or prescribed medications, all are widely perceived as an obstacle to employment.

“The No. 1 perception is that people are lazy. True or not, that’s the perception many people have,” Boozel said. “We have to acknowledge that.

“Many issues were brought up ... we’re not weighing in on either side of this right now,” he said. “I think we should discuss every one of them.”

A companion belief is that public assistance provides too much comfort, prompting some able-bodied people not to work while draining benefits for individuals who truly need them.

“There’s 90 percent of able-bodied people, one-time users who get back on their feet and move on, and there’s 10 percent who abuse the system,” he said. “There’s two schools of thought. One says if we hold everyone accountable to such a mass degree, and we eventually get those 10 percent off the rolls, the amount of money we expend is way more than the 10 percent of the people taking advantage. The other side of me says we should be doing that anyway.”

In our politically charged climate, has our culture of policy stolen away our human touch?

Boozel recounted one case involving a divorced father of two who was unemployed and homeless. The man enrolled in a homeless program that got him a job and took 30 percent of his pay for rent. But the court took his entire paycheck for child support, leaving the man with nothing to live on — plus an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent.

The reality is that the system is set up as one size fits all, while every individual has unique circumstances. Politicians set up policies, and bureaucrats follow them. Flexibility for individual circumstances just clogs the system.

That’s not good enough, Boozel says, while admitting at the same time he doesn’t have all the answers.

That’s not political business as usual. Business as usual dictates that you never ask question if you can’t anticipate the answer.

Boozel is planning a survey to find out how much Butler County people know about employment opportunities and services, and where the county is falling short in its outreach. He doesn’t know what the survey will reveal. That’s the point: nobody knows.

But Boozel does know this much:

“I believe that work is probably the most powerful therapy somebody can have. It gives you self-worth. It makes you want to do better. It makes you feel better about yourself.”

Work could be the ultimate tonic for an ailing tax base, too.

Proceed, commissioner. We’re with you.