After receiving previous calls from around the county, Tuesday morning January 25, 2011, the Osceola County Board of Supervisors snubbed the people of the county and effectively voted to increase the salaries of elected officials by 60% of the amount the discredited Comp Board had previously recommended they should be increased. There was one noted exception. Freshman Supervisor Roger Sixta made the first motion to effectively freeze all salaries of the elected officials for the coming year. Sixta's motion died for lack of a second. This was followed by the above motion, which was initiated by Mike Schulte and seconded by Phil Bootsma, to increase the salaries. It passed by a 4 to 1 margin. Opposing the increase was Sixta and voting to support it was supervisors Bootsma, Imhoff, Pedely and Schutle.

Please call Sixta (758-3673) and thank him for standing up for 'We the People'.

During public comment time prior to the vote OCTA President Kevin Wolfswinkel made a sound presentation in which he asked the Supervisors to freeze the salaries and reduce their own. He also offered to have two members of the OCTA meet with the two best 'numbers crunchers' of the Supervisors to help them find areas in the budget to reduce. The supervisors had no questions or comments after Wolfswinkel's presentation.

A widow living on a farm SW of Sibley, and new to the OCTA, showed up and listened to the discussion. Apparently not aware of the rules of public comment she was heard blurting out, "It's clear we need some new blood in this place!" Next time we hope she can come and provide some reasoned and sound arguments as to how and why the Supervisors need to reduce county spending.

Check out our YouTube Corner on the Menu bar to see this video. It is dated, Jan. 25, 2011.