The Sherburne County Board of Commissioners will see no increase in pay in 2017.

The commissioners debated for about 10 minutes before a 3-2 vote set the salary at the same rate as 2016 - $38,406.

The vote was split between the two commissioners who will remain on the board in 2017 - Ewald Petersen and Felix Schmiesing, and the three who will not return in 2017 - Rachel Leonard, John Riebel and Bruce Anderson.

In her final meeting as a commissioner, Leonard said she felt there should be no increase.  

 

“I always looked at this as a (public) service project and so I have consistently said zero for the county commissioners,” she said. “I know the incoming people are not in it for the money. I just want to be consistent.”

 

The board had just approved a 2.5% salary increase for the elected officials, and Administrator Steve Taylor said he recommended the commissioners do the same. He said union employees had also received a 2.5% increase.

 

“I think we should take the 2.5%, the same as the others,” said Commissioner Felix Schmiesing.

 

But Commissioner John Riebel said he felt the same way as Leonard.

 

“I joined the service and raised my hand not looking at the pay and expected what John Kennedy said, “It’s not what the country can do for you, it’s what you can do for your country”,” he said. “As town supervisor I figured the same way. Now again as a commissioner I felt the same way.”

 

Commissioner Bruce Anderson agreed.

 

“I took the job not for the salary,” he said. “The money wasn’t the issue.”

 

Commissioner Ewald Petersen said he has spoken to a lot of people at meetings and when he is at public events who feel the commissioners should get salary increases like everyone else.

 

“The general conversation is, “you’re crazy,” everybody else in the building is getting 2.5%,” he said.

 

Schmiesing said the point wasn’t the money. It was about getting the best people to serve as commissioner. He said people consider the salary when running for office. He said all the commissioners who were leaving had voted for increases at some point in the past.

 

“To leave the board and say “adios” and say zero percent I think is a little disingenuous,” he said. “When I leave this board I won’t be asking the people I leave behind to stay the same.”

 

Anderson, Leonard and Riebel voted for no increase. Schmiesing and Petersen voted against the motion.

 

Had the board elected to increase the salary 2.5%, the raise would have been $960.15 for the year.

 

The elected officials salaries, with the 2.5% increase are as follows:

 

Sheriff Joel Brott, $144,650; County Attorney Kathleen Heaney, $143,693; Auditor/ Treasurer Diane Arnold, $103,336; Recorder Michelle Ashe, $98,393.