PHOTO BY DEAN OLSEN.
Sangamon County Recorder Frank Lesko speaks on the Jan. 9 assembly of the County Board’s Constructing and Grounds Committee about his proposal to set the wage of his new chief deputy recorder at $80,000 yearly. His proposal was rejected, and the wage stage was set at $72,000.
Newly elected Sangamon County Recorder Frank Lesko tried however failed to offer a former worker of his within the metropolis clerk’s workplace a 15% elevate to grow to be his second-in-command.
Each Democrats and Republicans on the GOP-controlled County Board’s Constructing and Grounds Committee pushed again on the proposed $80,000 pay stage for Nicole Cunningham, and the panel lowered the quantity to $72,000 earlier than approving the chief deputy clerk wage.
Lesko, a Republican, stated Cunningham, whose annual wage as a deputy registrar with the town was $69,413, agreed to affix the recorder’s workplace on the $72,000 stage and began work on Jan. 14.
The earlier chief deputy recorder, Michelle Landess, underneath former recorder Josh Langfelder, a Democrat, was paid $69,413 per yr and resigned Dec. 30. Lesko was sworn in as recorder on Dec. 2. His annual wage as county recorder is $113,936.
Cunningham is treasurer of Lesko’s marketing campaign fund, in response to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Her final day with the town was Jan. 5.
Lesko campaigned on a platform of saving taxpayers cash and pushed for elimination of the recorder’s workplace so the workplace’s duties might be folded into the county clerk’s workplace.
He informed the Constructing and Grounds Committee on Jan. 9 that he wished to pay his chief deputy recorder extra due to extra duties she would tackle. He stated he additionally hoped to avoid wasting $18,000 by not filling a brief place within the recorder’s workplace.
The committee accepted a movement from Brad Miller, a Republican who lives in between Springfield and Chatham, to set the pay stage at $72,000. The pay stage additionally acquired the required approval from the County Board’s Finance Committee.
The complete board, at its Jan. 13 assembly, voted 24-2 to place a binding referendum on the April 1 poll asking voters to approve eliminating the county recorder’s workplace, efficient Dec. 1, 2026.
