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Huron Commissioners Consider Staff Changes in Committee Meeting
Mary Drier/Mike Kaufman
Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:20:20 EDT
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There was a lengthy discussion during the committee meeting that followed the Huron County Commissioners' Tuesday meeting.
The committee talked about some staffing changes they are considering.
A key change could be the Executive Assistant Jodi M. Essenmacher's title.
The board talked about giving Essenmacher the title of county controller, or county administrator, or the combined title of controller-administrator.
Commissioner Mary Babcock said she talked with Tuscola and Sanilac counties that each have positions for a controller and/or an administrator, and what duties they handle.
In her role as Executive Assistant, Essenmacher is currently performing the same duties that a controller and that an administrator does.
Huron County is one of a few counties that only has an executive assistant handling all of those duties.
Essenmacher has worked for the county for 31 years. She started when she was 20 years old.
Despite doing all of the duties of a controller and of an administrator, she only makes about $78,000 a year.
The persons who do the same work in Tuscola and Sanilac counties each make more than $110,000 a year.
To go along with that, there were concerns expressed about having Essenmacher groom someone to replace her when she retires.
At the moment, she is considering retiring in 2030 after having worked for the county for 35 years.
That is not the only change that could be coming.
The committee also discussed combining the register of deeds office with the clerk's office as a way to say money.
If commissioners decide to do that, it can't happen until the next election cycle because the register of deeds and the county clerk are both election positions. The proposed change of combining offices could not happen until the current term of clerk and the term of the register expire in two years.
Combining those two offices was discussed a few years ago, but not acted on.
However, after receiving a financial report Tuesday that predicted revenue growth in the county being almost stagnant, belt tightening will have to be done.
There was a suggestion made about asking voters to increase the county's general operating millage, but it was only a suggestion, and that proposal was voted down previously.
