Mr Dennis Lennox's letter of 10/20/2011 described as "unbelievable" the 2.61% pay raises awarded to some Cheboygan County elected officials.
Perhaps Dennis is unaware or approves of the pay raises Mullett Township Clerk Rachel Osborn and other Mullett Board members have enjoyed in the last year; right in Mr Lennox's own township. At the 2011-2012 budget meeting Clerk Osborn lobbied the Board for a raise of 25%. A 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. The Treasurer Karen Morgan also gained a $1,000 raise and the Deputy Clerk and Deputy Treasurer also 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 Township Clerk’s have 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 succeeded in securing a year over year increase in pay from $12,000 to $14,200 with the complete cooperation of her fellow Mullett Township Board members. The public should know this is a part-time position, without regular business hours or any statutory time requirements.
This is not the 2.61% pay increase received by some Cheboygan County elected officials, but a truly unbelievable 18% year over year pay increase to an elected official in her first term. Shame on Ms Osborn, she ran and was elected knowing what the duties were and what the position paid.
