CHANGES ARE ON THE HORIZON FOR THE VILLAGE OF BARODA AFER THE VILLAGE PRESIDENT & CLERK ANNOUNCED THEIR RESIGNATION

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

BARODA – Changes are on the horizon for the village of Baroda after the village president and clerk announced their resignation. In addition, Baroda Township officials are looking to hire a new fire chief amid questions about board member salaries.

Village President Robert Getz and Clerk/Treasurer Tina Martin announced their resignations March 19. Council members held a special meeting last week to decide their next moves.

Martin, who is staying on until mid-April, reported that no current council member stated an interest in serving as president so the position will be posted. She said no deadline has been set for applications, resumes and letters of interests but they should be sent to clerk@barodavillage.org or brought into the village hall.

Whoever is appointed as village president will serve until the November, 2022 election. That position is a two year post and Getz was re-elected to a new term last November. Council member Larry Nye is president pro-tem and will serve as the interim president.

As for replacing her, Martin said council members said they wanted to separate the clerk and treasurer positions and made both positions part-time. She said the clerk position has always been full-time even before the two positions were combined in 2018. Both the clerk and treasurer positions are appointed and not elected.

The person hired to be the new part-time clerk is expected to work 29.5 hours a week with an hourly wage of $17.50 with no benefits. The person appointed to be the new president must be a village resident. The pay is $16,000 a year for about 20 hours of work each week.

Council members have debated having the two positions combined over the last few years and even in recent months. Martin reported at the council’s February meeting that while auditors always mention the fact that the village has one person holding both posts, it’s not an uncommon practice in small municipalities which can’t afford more people in the office.

Village attorney James McGovern noted in February that auditors didn’t find anything inappropriate in the books and know the village’s limited options. He said what’s most important is that the village has two officials sign all the checks. “Having three people in the office would be good, but it’s not realistic for you or others,” he said.

Martin has said she will stay until April 13 but has plans to travel to visit her daughter in California shortly after that. She has been the clerk for nine years and served in the combined post for the last three years.

“I was only going to stay a couple of years,” Martin said last week. “You kind of know when it’s time. I want to leave on a positive note … I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the village. We’ve accomplished a lot and had a lot of successes.”

Martin addressed her resignation letter to the Village Council. “After nearly 9 years of serving the Village of Baroda, I have decided it is time for me to move on,” she wrote. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure here at the Village and serving the community, which I have grown to love and adore.”

“I have learned so much from the elders and business owners in the community and will miss all of them. I am proud for the many accomplishments we have made over the course of my years here as Clerk, and I truly hope the progress continues.”

She noted that she planned “to assist in a smooth transition with a new hire, as well as wrap up the end of the fiscal year, and get things started for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. My last day will be April 13, 2021. Sincerely and respectfully, Tina Martin, Clerk/Treasurer”

Getz is leaving after nearly two decades as village president and even longer in village government. He delivered his resignation letter in a hand written note to council members.

“After much thought and soul searching I have decided to retire from my position as Village President effective March 19, 2021,” he wrote. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time as President and am very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish over the last 18 years. Part of being a good leader is knowing when to step aside and in my heart I know that it’s that time. Respectfully, Bob Getz.”

The village council has six council members and two new members were elected last November. Council members are Nye, Toni Gaul, Leonard Krone, Jodi Mattner, Michael Price and Katie Strefling. Gaul and Strefling were first elected to the council last November and Mattner was appointed to the council last May and then elected last November.

In Baroda Township, officials have announced they will be looking over applications and anticipate appointing a new fire chief at the township board’s April 19 meeting. People interested in the position should email or deliver letters of interest and resumes to the township before April 9.

Township Supervisor Dennis Krotzer recently penned a letter to township residents “to set the facts straight.” He addressed concerns about $10,000 being removed from the fire department budget as well as questions about the township clerk’s salary.

He said the $10,000 was removed from the fire department budget because they were over the agreed upon budget amount. He said the township would have been required to submit a deficit reduction plan if the department actually had run a deficit. He said the money was not diverted to the township’s general fund.

As for the clerk’s salary and compensation, he said the clerk’s salary was reduced from 2018 to 2019 and then slightly increased in 2020. The new budget calls for the clerk’s salary to be raised back to just above the 2018 level for 2021. The clerk’s salary was $38,718 in 2018, $29,500 in 2019 and $30,000 in 2020 and will be $40,000 in 2021.

He said the clerk now has two years of experience as a clerk and should be compensated for that experience. He noted that a 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment from the 2018 level would put the clerk’s salary at $40,486.57 which is more than what is being proposed.

The supervisor’s salary was $34,988 in 2018, reduced to $29,500 in 2019 and then to $16,500 in 2020. The supervisor’s 2021 salary is scheduled to be $28,000 which would return it most of the way to the 2018 and 2019 levels.