Click to listen
I heard in the news this morning that the county’s Compensation Commission released new pay rates for elected officials next year.
The Compensation Commission is an independent commission established by Michigan law. It meets every two years to update the salaries of elected officials.
In 2023 and 2024, County Commissioners are paid around $21,000 per year.
The news reports from this morning indicated the board is giving itself a 60% pay increase.
You might be wondering, did they leave out any important facts?
You also might wonder, does the Board of Commissioners control this?
If we did, then why did I have to get the information from the news?
Interestingly, I received the report from the Compensation Commission this afternoon, after the news articles were released.
So, how did the local media have the report so quickly?
Is it because the Chairman of the Compensation Commission is also the Chairman of the Ottawa County Democratic Party, Larry Jackson?
Larry Jackson
Chairman, Ottawa County Democratic Party
Chairman, Ottawa County Compensation Commission
Did someone leak the information to the news?
One thing is for sure, the local news is trying to make it sound like the Board of Commissioners already gave itself a raise.
One headline from today read: “Ottawa County Board of Commissioners Votes to Give Themselves a Hefty Raise” (Source: Michigan News Source)
That is literally false.
Another article said: “[Ottawa County] officials in 2025 would have the highest salaries in the region, including Kent County.” (Source: Holland Sentinel)
That is also false. Let’s look at the 2025 proposed salaries for Kent and Ottawa counties.
| Position | Ottawa County, 2025 | Kent County, 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheriff | $161,587 | $205,649 | Kent County is higher |
| Prosecutor | $183,463 | $208,850 | Kent County is higher |
| Board Chair | $43,403 | $50,251 | Kent County is higher |
| Board Vice-Chair | $34,436 | $37,725 | Kent County is higher |
| County Commissioners | $33,350 (9 of 11 commissioners) | $29,593 (19 of 21 commissioners) | Ottawa County is higher |
Source: MLive.com
All of this information is public, including Larry Jackson leading the Ottawa County Democrats. If the local media was even just a little curious, maybe they would have reported this too?
Does all this make you curious what else the media wants you to believe that’s actually false?
After hundreds of negative news articles about the new conservative Board of Commissioners, and coordinated hit jobs, I’m starting to think the local media is biased.
Anyway, we can’t control the chaos the news media creates, but we can defend freedom for everyone in Ottawa County.
The progressive left, the Democratic Party, and the news media would like to ignore the facts and report narratives. I am thankful the Board of Commissioners focuses on the truth and analyzes the facts before making decisions.
It’s an honor to see board members work so hard to represent the people in their districts and continue to lead our beautiful county in a positive direction.
We’re here to protect individual freedoms, American values, and parental rights, so our children and grand children can receive the same heritage that we did.
Stay tuned, and more importantly, stay curious.
Update, May 4, 2024: A helpful constituent pointed out that if the health insurance stipend is factored in to total pay, commissioners in Ottawa would be paid more than Kent. This is accurate, and should be noted. It was not mentioned in some of the news articles. Most articles did not include research related to benefits offered in other counties, which should also be factored in, along with other important financial statistics.
The point of this post remains the same: activist media continues to run biased articles in an attempt to discredit the new conservative Board of Commissioners in Ottawa. The media also used ad hominem attacks, again proving their bias. I’ll continue to review the facts and post again.