Pantagraph.com | News | LaSalle County Board agrees on $53,000 for chair’s pay

NewsTuesday, September 11, 2007 2:50 PM CDT

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LaSalle County Board agrees on $53,000 for chair’s pay

By Greg Stanmar
gregstanmar@insightbb.com

OTTAWA — Long-simmering animosity among LaSalle County Board members over the general election of the board chairman came to a boiling point Monday when members barely approved pay for the job.

The board approved 13-12 to pay its first publicly elected chairman $53,000 a year, the same as other county elected officials. The only Streator board member to vote for the pay was Jerry Myers, a Republican.

Among those voting against the pay were Republican members who thought the pay excessive and some Democrats who have never been in favor of a chairman elected by the public. Until the new board is seated next year, members will choose their chairman, usually a member of the majority party.

Current chair’s pay: $30,000
Voters last November decided by nearly a three to one margin to elect the board chairman, though no duties or salary were included in the question. The current chairman, Jerry Hicks, D-Marseilles, is paid about $30,000 a year in salary and per diem.

Randy Freeman, R-Lostant, said the proposed salary was an attempt by opponents of direct election to show the issue would be far more expensive than the current system. He proposed an amendment to bring the pay to what Hicks is now earning.

That amendment failed 11-14.

When the debate turned to the original proposed increase, board member Bill Johnson, D-Peru, likened the “misled” referendum vote to the one in 1933 that made Adolph Hitler the chancellor by an 85 percent German majority

“Shame on you,” Freeman shot back. The comparison “makes me sick to my stomach.”

“A well-organized faction” can corrupt democracy, Johnson said earlier, criticizing the organization that passed the referendum.

The LaSalle County Landowners Association was the chief supporter of the referendum after a former chairman opposed some of the group’s platforms.

Coaching accusation
When Freeman leaned back to talk with Ralph Coyle, president of the landowners association, political opponent George Guenwald, D-LaSalle, accused him of getting “coaching” from Coyle. He also said running for chairman would now require the support of many more voters than is needed in one district.

“You better pay a little more than $30,000,” Guenwald said.

Three board members have already said they were in the chairman race, said Freeman.

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