- Commissioners in a conservative Michigan town used the COVID-19 allotted money to pay themselves bonuses.
- On July 15 commissioners voted 6 to 0 to give themselves all $65,000 out of the $557,000 COVID fund as “hazard pay” during the pandemic.
- “Mortified” county commissioner Marlene Webster claimed that she had no idea she had voted to pay herself that much money.
Sarah K. Burris from Rawstory writes:
“Among the many that were allowed to use COVID-19 funds without much oversight was a conservative Michigan town where county commissioners used the allotted money to pay themselves bonuses.
According to The Guardian, called out Shiawassee County commissioners were told by prosecutors that the payments were illegal and that they had to be paid back. The Argus Press reported the incident to the local community, explaining that the Michigan state constitution doesn’t allow such compensation “after services had already been rendered,” prosecutor Scott Koerner explained.
It was July 15 when commissioners voted 6 to 0 to give themselves all $65,000 out of the $557,000 they voted to give to 250 county staffers as “hazard pay” during the COVID disaster.
“The smallest amounts for recipients were $1,000 to $2,000. But the chairman of the county board, Jeremy Root, got $25,000. Two commissioners received $10,000 each, while four received $5,000 each,” said the report.
They gave money to elected officials, the prosecutor included a sheriff and the county clerk…”
See full story here.
Categories: Government, Politics
Economic Left 
Leave a Reply