We’re not saying he doesn’t work hard.

We’re not saying he doesn’t deserve it.

We are saying the Alpena County Board of Commissioners’ recent decision to grant County Administrator Jesse Osmer a one-time, $4,100 year-end stipend sends the wrong message to taxpayers and to the rest of the county’s employees, who will have to deal with steep cuts — including layoffs of county Sheriff’s Office deputies — that the county board enacted to close a gaping budget hole.

The commissioners voted unanimously this week to give Osmer the stipend, saying he deserved commendation for crafting a balanced budget that cut fewer jobs than originally expected and saved the county from having to dig into its dwindling cash savings to pay the bills.

When he accepted the county administrator post earlier this year, Osmer helped the county with its budget woes by accepting a lower salary than the county board had originally offered.

And frontline county employees will receive raises next year.

Still, the gift to Osmer comes just weeks after the county board approved hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts to balance the 2025 budget, eliminating seven full-time jobs and one part-time job. More cuts are expected in 2026.

And that means county employees, despite the 2025 raises, will be left worrying about their jobs moving forward.

County employees worried about their futures shouldn’t have to see their boss pick up some extra dough right before Christmas and after less than a year on the job.

The stipend sends the wrong message and certainly won’t make county voters any more willing to approve any tax-hike asks from the county in the future.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)