Testy exchange for Putnam judge, commissioners

OTTAWA — Two Putnam County commissioners defended on Tuesday a $25,000 performance bonus handed out last month to a county employee, while simultaneously rejecting a request from a judge for a similar stipend on behalf of his employees.

Michael Borer, judge of the county probate and juvenile courts, met with commissioners Vince Schroeder and John Schlumbohm on Tuesday morning to follow up a letter Borer hand-delivered to the commissioners two weeks earlier. Commissioner Michael Lammers was absent Tuesday.

In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Lima News, Borer said the commissioners had “established a precedent for awarding performance bonuses for employees under their direct control” when they approved a $25,000 stipend for Tim Schnipke, the county’s maintenance supervisor. The bonus, approved in a 2-0 vote with Lammers again not present, was outlined in the minutes of the board’s July 25 meeting.

The minutes indicate the “one-time pay incentive” awarded to Schnipke was for “additional management duties performed at the fairgrounds during the rehabilitation of the grandstand and the construction of the new event center.”

In his letter dated July 30, Borer asked that the commissioners “increase my payroll budget by the amount of $25,000 for 2024 so that I may similarly reward my staff.”

With his seven-member staff in attendance Tuesday, Borer told the commissioners he sought the budget increase “for what I believe are extraordinary” workplace performances.

“What are the ‘above-and-beyond’ duties they performed?” Schlumbohm asked the judge.

Borer replied, “That’s not your business. I believe that if you reward some, you should be in a position to reward others.”

Schlumbohm said the circumstances behind Schnipke’s stipend were cited in the resolution granting his bonus, but the judge cut him off.

“I frankly don’t care,” Borer interjected. “You don’t know what my employees do. What they do is they exceed my expectations, and I believe they deserve to be compensated. I am not in a position to have to explain to you what they do.”

“I guess we’ll agree to disagree,” Schlumbohm said as the conversation grew increasingly confrontational.

Saying he had no particular objection with the bonus awarded to Schnipke, the judge continued his push for additional pay for his staff.

“I am not opposed to what Tim got,” Borer said. “You have now established a precedent. You have established that the county has sufficient assets to do it. My point is that you don’t permit anyone else to do this. But if the answer is no, then the answer is no.”

Schlumbohm again asked Borer what his staff had done to deserve a bonus and received same reply as earlier.

“I don’t feel I have an obligation to explain it to you, except to say they are exceeding my expectations,” the judge answered.

“So, is the answer ‘no’?” Borer asked.

“From me, yes it is,” Schlumbohm said.

Following the meeting, Schroeder said the commissioners believed Schnipke earned a bonus because he oversaw a $5.6 million project while performing additional duties which, if contracted to an outside firm, likely would have cost the county in excess of $100,000.