The June 30, 2011 Straitsland Resorter’s front page report “Citizens vote down raise for elected officials” at the Tuscarora Annual Meeting was a refreshing bit of news. Up north in Mullett Township, our elected officials do not conduct a legal budget hearing or Annual Meeting under Michigan Township Laws. Annual and Special Meetings empower the electorate and the Mullett Township Board prefers to operate as an oligarchy.
Mullett Township Clerk Rachel Osborn advertised a meeting in February to “address” the 2011-2012 budget and at the meeting lobbied the Board for a personal raise of 25%. A happy compromise was then made by the Board and her salary of $12,000 for a part-time position was budgeted for a raise exceeding 8% to $13,000. To be fair, the Treasurer Karen Morgan also gained a $1,000 raise and the Deputy Clerk and Deputy Treasurer received raises. All of these raises were approved at the next regular meeting when the Budget was adopted.
Ms Osborn’s attempt to turn a part-time elected position into a full-time paycheck continued when she was designated as the Mullett Township FOIA Coordinator. Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act has been in existence since 1976, and the Township Clerk has always had the responsibility to fulfill FOIA requests. There are no new duties, only a new title. The new title was bestowed to Ms Osborn with another Board approved raise of $1,200 per year. Ms Osborn has now succeeded in securing a year over year increase in pay of $2,200.
That is not the 2% pay increase sought by the Tuscarora elected officials, but an 18% pay increase in a single year.
Still not quite the 25% increase in pay sought in February, but there is a lot of budget year 2011-2012 left for Ms Osborn to reach into your pockets.
