I had an illuminating moment this week. It was not one of
those cartoonish idea bulbs flashing above my head. It was the single 60-watt
incandescent ceiling bulb in one bathroom. After years of selfless service, on
and off, day or night, that bulb decided to go out with a bang and a flash in a
true Kodak moment. Thinking a 100-watt bulb might cast a little more light on
the mirror and facilitate shaving; I removed the fixture globe, screwed in the
bulb, reinstalled the globe and flipped the switch. None of that 38-watt CFL
pretender stuff that passes now as electric light. Twice as many lumens do not flatter
a bachelor’s bathroom. Dirt now has nowhere to hide and it is very hard to
overlook.
A county government is much like this single guy’s bathroom.
I am happy that it functions when I need it. A closer look with a brighter
bulb, like the new brighter orb shining in my bathroom, may uncover more dirt
than I really want to see. Cheboygan County government is no better or worse
than many other counties. That is not saying a lot. Cheboygan has avoided the
trap of Grand Traverse’s underfunded pensions or Emmet County’s millions of
dollars of bond debt funding Emmet County EMS and Headland’s Park. Several
northern Michigan counties have also had tumultuous personnel issues.
I will not excuse faults that have occurred with our prior
Board of Commissioners or the current Board. Those seven Commissioners, a
changing group over the past few years, are always answerable to the people who
elected them. The twice-monthly Board of Commissioners meetings are open to the
public. The county conducts business before the Board in an open and relatively
formal manner following a published and approved agenda. The Board
hired the current County Administrator Jeff Lawson
in 2011. His job is to implement Board policies, to supervise all functions
that report to the Board of Commissioners, and to oversee the daily activities
of the County. The County Administrator and support staff provide professional
support, project management, and policy recommendations for the Board of
Commissioners. Mr Lawson had his last 3-year term of employment approved July
of 2014 and that contract expired last year on July 10, 2017. It is a very
typical government contract with some nice perks and benefits. The news at the
time reported Mr Lawson’s base salary as $97,000 and the benefits’ cost add
about 27% to the total compensation.
The Board evaluates Mr Lawson’s performance as a
professional on an annual basis. His 2017 evaluation, compiled to protect the
anonymity of the Board member’s comments was generally favorable. Mr Lawson
exercised his right under the Open Meeting Act to request a closed session for
his evaluation on March 14, 2017. When the Board of Commissioners exited that
closed session, the Board took advantage of a rare situation when the public
was not watching. On a motion by Chris Brown, and with support by Bob Bolinger,
the full Board voted to extend Mr Lawson’s contract by one (1) year and to
destroy the copies of the evaluation. None of this conduct after the closed
session seemed pre-planned or on any approved agenda.
Apparently, and perhaps taking advantage of a
rare time when the public and other Board members were not watching,
Commissioner Chris Brown as Vice-Chair signed a new contract with Jeff Lawson
the next day. This was not the one (1) year contract extension approved and
documented in the minutes for the Board of Commissioners. The contract signed
on March 15, 2017 added two (2) years and four (4) months to the existing
contract. It also added more money. Much of the fiscal responsibility exercised
by Mr Lawson since 2011 has been a denial of raises for union employees.
Meanwhile, Mr Lawson lobbied the Board of Commissioners and gained thousands of
dollars in “retention” raises to keep salaried staff. Both of those salaried staff
has since left. Raises for salaried employees and denials for the hourly
employees has been a contentious subject in the county building. I suspect an
annual evaluation by many employees in the building would not be generally
favorable to Mr Lawson.
You already know the one (1) year contract
extension approved on March 14, 2017 grew overnight to a secretively signed two
year and four-month contract. That new contract increased the annual base
salary to $99,929.40 plus benefits. I have not seen and Mr Lawson offered no
explanation where or when the Board of Commissioners approved this contract in
an open public meeting. The bright light is shining on Mr Lawson and the public
deserve some answers.
The information contained in this post is believed accurate at date of publication. Monetary amounts and actions reported are based solely on documents supplied by Cheboygan County Administrator Jeff Lawson in a March 6, 2018 FOIA response seeking documentation of his current Cheboygan County employment contract.
