A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that 65% of Americans were exhausted with the current state of American politics.
Election interest hit a 20-year low in the latest NBC News poll, and majorities of registered voters have unfavorable views of presidential candidates.
Fortunately, interest is high locally, with six primary races for Republican candidates and other county/township offices.
Interestingly, for the first time in recent memory, there are multiple races for candidates seeking their party’s nomination.
GOP candidates have races in Districts 1 and 2 and there’s a three-way Republican race for the District 7 commissioner seat, which has been held for decades by current commissioner Melinda C. Lautner.
Candidates include a handful of people who are relative newcomers to county politics.
Whether motivated by the bumpy political national climate or the desire to have greater input on how things are governed locally, it’s encouraging to see people step forward.
It’s not about the money. Current commissioners just last month approved an increase their yearly salaries by 60% and their per diems by over 70%, starting in 2025. The salary for county commissioners will increase from $5,000 to $8,000 and the salary of the county board chairman increased from $7,700 to $10,000 starting next year. Per diem pay — fixed payments for attending meetings and conferences — will also increase from $40 to $70 for a half day of work and from $70 to $120 for a full day, also starting in 2025.
Still, little compensation for those charged with overseeing a complex local unit of government. The extent of some of these functions vary from county to county, depending on the administrative structure of the county government. Commissioners in counties with strong administrative systems have different responsibilities than those in counties having no central administrative system.
That’s been a tough task for the current county board. Management of county finances has been fraught with difficulty ever since the previous board of commissioners controversially decided to remove finance duties from the county clerk’s office and create a new department in May 2021.
As many as five persons have been hired to head the finance department in the past three years. The department is now headed by interim director Cathy Hartesvelt.
In December 2022 the county board selected Elmwood Township resident Deb Allen as county administrator to replace previous administrator Chet Janik, who retired after more than a decade of service.
Allen resigned in February citing the commissioners’ decision to create a new position combining the administrator Chief Financial Officer position, with a finance department, reporting directly to that position.
Commissioners are in the midst of hiring a new administrator/CFO.
It is our hope that this new department head, and the new county board, will come together to calm what recently have been troubled waters.
Thanks to stepping up to serve the public.
