Commissioner?s five percent wage increase for county officials not supported

Two items of business regarding wage increases were brought before members of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners during last Friday’s meeting at the courthouse in Rogers City. One was an agenda item to transfer money to cover approved wage increases from earlier in the month. A motion was unanimously approved to transfer up to $27,449 from the contingency fund to cover the wage increases for elected and appointed officials and department heads. Another motion made by District 3 commissioner Mike Darga to approve an across-the-board five percent increase for the same positions died for a lack of support after chairman Allan Bruder asked for support of the motion four times.

“WE GIVE out a lot of money to other entities but we don’t want to take care of these people,” said Darga, just prior to making the motion. “It’s got me kind of riled up.” Darga said he took some time to figure out pay increases that would be fair to the county officials and recommended the five percent, which he said would amount to an additional $7,525.

“Every year I’ve been here, our union gets a certain percentage and our appointed and elected officials get somewhat less,” said Darga. “I thought it would be fair to get them on the same pay scale as our union. “I thought the personnel committee would go along with me on this and recommend that we do that, to be fair for a change.” PERSONNEL COMMITTEE chairman Steven Lang (District 5) would like to explore ideas in the future to make the raises more equitable. “We need to find some other yardstick,” said Lang. The other commissioner who serves on the committee, Bob Schell of District 1, said “If you are talking fair…they (unions) may have got a three percent or four percent increase, but it amounted to one fourth of what the increase we gave the prosecuting attorney. Even though the percentages don’t work out, the dollars do.” Schell said per

centage increases aren’t always fair. “We all live in the same community, work and buy our stuff in the same community,” said Schell. “I don’t think it costs four times more to buy his gas or his bread or his utilities here than it does our union employees.”

CHAIRMAN ALLAN BRUDER believes all the employees at the courthouse have been saddled with an increased workload from more and more state mandates and “I just don’t know where it’s going to stop. I’ve never walked into anybody’s office and they told me they didn’t have enough to do.”

Darga said, “We can’t run this courthouse without their help. It would never happen, and I think this would be a big thank you in their favor on their behalf.” Darga, who had reservations about making the motion because he thought it lacked support, eventually was persuaded by Bruder to go through with it. After making the motion, Darga pleaded: “Help me out on this, guys.” There was no support, so, based on Robert Rules of Order, the issue could not be voted on.

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