HIGHER PAY FOR BOSS
“We are a strong county that takes pride in our work, our employees and our leadership.” Wickersham’s pay falls below what it should be
(Captain Lori) Misch recited former President Teddy Roosevelt’s famous “man … in the arena” quote and said overseeing the county jail is like “running a small city.”
Four top officials in the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office lobbied county commissioners to approve a higher raise than they did for their boss last week after three top officials in the Clerk’s Office made a similar argument a week earlier.
Sheriff’s Commander Jason Abro and captains Steve Briney, Lori Misch and Rob Doherty spoke in support of Sheriff Anthony Wickersham last Thursday during public participation at the monthly meeting of the county Board of Commissioners, which approved across-the-board 6% raises for five countywide elected officials and themselves. It’s part of a charter-ordered process to establish elected county officials’ salaries every election cycle.
All are up for re-election this year.
The officials said Wickersham is woefully underpaid, noting that several officers, including themselves, in their department earn more than their boss.
Wickersham has not asked for a higher increase. He is making 134,138 this year and will receive 6% increases over the next four years to place his salary at $169,346 in 2028.
Abro compared Wickersham to a CEO who manages 584 employees, 200 reservists and about 800 jail inmates, and is in effect the police chief for six communities that contract with the Sheriff’s Office, based in Mount Clemens.
“We are a strong county that takes pride in our work, our employees and our leadership,” Abro told the board. “Every one of you should be very proud of what we’re doing. But I have to ask you, ‘When will we stop chasing other communities? When will we stop looking across our county borders constantly to look at what others are getting paid? When will you take charge of our salaries?”
He was also making reference to the relatively low pay of sheriff’s deputies compared to police agencies.
Misch recited former President Teddy Roosevelt’s famous “man … in the arena” quote and said overseeing the county jail is like “running a small city.”
Briney said Wickersham “should be one of the highest positions in the county,” and Doherty added Wickersham is never off the clock, working and being available around the clock every day.
Abro noted the sheriff in Washtenaw County, which is less than half the size of Macomb County, currently makes $170,000 a year, and the sheriff in Kent County, which has over 200,000 fewer residents than Macomb, currently makes $161,000. The sheriff in Oakland County, which has a population of nearly 1.3 million compared to Macomb 877,000, earns $170,761, according to its records.
His salary also is a “major discrepancy” compared to what other sheriffs and other community police chiefs earn, Abro said. Several local-department police chiefs in the county make more or about the same as Wickersham. The Warren police commissioner makes $158,000, the Shelby Township chief earns $146,000 and the Sterling Heights chief makes $145,000, Abro pointed out. Chiefs in Clinton Township and Roseville make close to what Wickersham makes, $136,000 and $130,000, respectively.
Despite his relatively low salary, Wickersham earns more than Clerk Anthony Forlini, who makes $120,236 and Treasurer Larry Rocca, who is paid $124,059, with 6% annual increases on tap for the next four years. Forlini was the most recently elected to office, defeating Democrat Fred Miller in 2020 while Rocca was first elected in 2016.
Two weeks ago, three of Forlini’s top staffers spoke at a committee meeting, also held in the county Administration Build