Being a commissioner pays and it pays well

A four-year term as a Cleveland County commissioner pays — and it pays well.

With the general election heating up for the county’s District 1 commission seat, many voters are preparing to decide whom they will pick to replace the late Bill Graves, the long-serving commissioner who died in April due to complications from surgery.

The winner will be the third member of a three-man board which meets weekly to address the issues involving county government.

And gets paid well for doing it.

According to Cleveland County Clerk, Tammy Howard, each member of the commission is paid “about $70,000” per year.

“They also get travel expenses,” she said, “but I’m not sure if that’s considered a part of their actual salary.”

County records indicate that all three of the county’s commissioner made well over $70,000 in 2006, including:

• $76,367 for Commission chairman George Skinner.

• $76,367 for the late commissioner Bill Graves.

• $76,367 for former commissioner Leroy Krohmer.

Those salaries are almost twice what state legislators, teachers and a typical private sector employee make.

The average annual salary for a state lawmaker (a member of the state House of Representatives or the Oklahoma State Senate) stands at $38,400, while the average salary for an Oklahoman working in the private sector is about $31,000. In 2006 the average teacher’s pay for Oklahoma was $34,744.

Along with their pay and travel expenses, Howard said each member has two administrative assistants and a foreman, or first deputy commissioner.

“Each commissioner has an administrative assistant at the county and at the warehouse in their district.” That warehouse, she said, is where each district’s road crew is housed.

The foreman, or first deputy, is usually in charge of the district’s road crew and, under state law, is allowed to serve in place of the commissioner upon the commissioner’s illness or death.

Currently, District 1 is being represented by Mark Meyer, the foreman for the late commissioner Bill Graves. Meyer will serve until a new commissioner is elected.