Treasurer’s Office Discusses Wage Study
Board of County Commissioners Meeting - July 28, 2026
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met in Regular Session on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 9:30 am at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. BOCC Meetings can be live streamed through the Geauga ADP Youtube channel and can be accessed here by scrolling down and clicking on the section for YouTube videos. Recordings are available for the public. This meeting can be found here. Observer Note: The camera for the live stream and video was not positioned properly, so the video does not show the correct view of the meeting. As of this report’s publication date, the video has been viewed 241 times. Notations in the report refer to the minute notation on the video for a particular section. An agenda is available in advance via request to the Commissioners’ Clerk and at the meeting. Items discussed at the meeting but not on the agenda, if any, are addressed at the end of this report.
Public Comment Policy: Permitted as outlined in the BOCC’s Public Comment Policy that was adopted on January 28, 2025, revised on April 15, 2025, and again modified on September 30, 2025 and February 24, 2026.
Attendance: Present were Commissioners Carolyn Brakey, James Dvorak and Ralph Spidalieri. Also present were Commissioners’ Clerk Christine Blair, County Administrator Amy Bevan, Finance Manager Adrian Gorton and Deputy County Administrator Mark Jimison.
County Representatives: Caroline Mansfield, Deputy Treasurer; Nick Gorris, Director, Water Resources; Joseph Rice, Communications /Media Specialist.
Others in Attendance: Rob Weigle, Director, Maintenance; Adam Litke, Lake/Geauga Public Health Commissioner; Geauga Maple Leaf reporter Allison Wilson; Chagrin Valley Times reporter Anastasia Nicholas; other members of the public and this LWVG Observer (virtually).
1:28 Min. Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer (Commissioner Dvorak)
2:43 Min. Public Comment on Agenda Items - none
Report from Administrator Amy Bevan - Ms. Bevan reported on the following:
On July 23rd, 2026, Ms. Bevan approved the following:
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Executed for Community and Economic Development a satisfaction release of mortgage for QP properties LLC as the mortgage from September 27th, 2005 for a revolving loan fund loan for the purchase of a building in the amount of $500,000 has been satisfied.
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Accepted for Community and Economic Development the resignation of Elaine Malkamaki, project manager number 1411 to be effective July 28th, 2026.
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Acknowledged for Job and Family Services the following new hire appointment: Social Service Worker, replacement
On July 27th, 2026, Ms. Bevan approved the following:
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For maintenance, hiring maintenance worker number 1904 to be effective August 10th, 2026.
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Approved and executed for the Commissioners’ Office an agreement with the Chardon Square Association Incorporated for the Chardon Square Arts Festival being held this Sunday, August 2nd, 2026, to utilize the sidewalk along Short Court Street and the center sidewalk that extends up the staircase of the original courthouse entrance for artist vendor exhibition and sales spaces during the event between the hours of 7:00 am and 5:00 pm.
4:43 Min. Minutes - The Commissioners approved Minutes for the Special Meeting from March 2, 2026 and the Regular Meeting of March 3, 2026. Observer Note: Weekly LWVG Observer Reports for the BOCC are available online through July 28, 2026 for informational purposes but are not substitutes for approved minutes. Approved BOCC Minutes are posted online here through December 30, 2025.
5:08 Min. Report of Financials - County Finance Manager Adrian Gorton received approval for the following (except for the items related to the Treasurer’s Office as detailed below):
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Supplemental Appropriations from the Commissioners in the opioid settlement fund other expense account to cover the incumbrance for the Lake Geauga Recovery Centers. Mr. Gorton said that he had misspoken about the amount left in the Opioid Settlement Fund at the prior meeting. He said that after the $50,000 to Lake Geauga Recovery, there would be a balance of $418,000. On top of that amount, Mr. Gorton said that a deposit of $47,000 - $48,000 had just been received.
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Supplementals from the Treasurer's Office and the general fund and their delinquent tax fund to “true up wages for the office personnel now that their wage study is complete.” This supplemental was from all three funds. Note that it was not approved at this meeting.
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Cash transfer from the General Fund to Community Development, Metzenbaum (Department of Developmental Disabilities), and Board of Elections for the second quarter 2026 interest transfer and from the general fund to Family First Council for the July through August 2026 commitment.
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Incumbrances - Travel for Common Pleas Court and for the Juvenile Court to attend the 2026 Ohio CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) conference in Columbus.
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Vouchers
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$36,105 from the Department on Aging for the purchase of a 2026 Jeep Cherokee Laredo to replace the truck that was declared to be a total loss by the insurance company.
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$162,860.24 from the Commissioners to Millstone Management Group for the Prosecutor's Office renovation project.
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$49,153 from Maintenance to Preston Ford for the purchase of a 2026 model Ford F250 to be used for plowing and grounds maintenance. The new truck is replacing an old Ford flatbed truck which will be auctioned at some point in the future.
Mrs. Brakey said that she wanted to talk about the Supplemental for the Treasurer’s Office. She noted that Caroline Mansfield, Deputy Treasurer, was in the back and asked her to come forward. Mrs. Brakey said that they hadn’t received information about this until the previous afternoon and she had some questions.
Ms. Mansfield said, “We did a wage study in 2005 and at that point we kind of leveled up to what we thought was fair for our office. Since then, we don't participate in your step increases. So, that has never happened for our office. The only raises that were ever given were the two or 3% or whatever continually throughout the years since 2005. And our employees were paid so much less than other offices. And when I looked, what we did was, I pulled from the main payroll, I took departments that were similar to us with clerks and looked at what their rates were, and it became quite evident that all of our employees were paid at between $5 to $15 less an hour. “
Mrs. Brakey said she was uncomfortable making this decision without having a chance to study it. She asked about the general amount that wages went up, and Ms. Mansfield said that it was a $5.00/hour increase on average, with one person getting $7.00/hour more.
Ms. Mansfield talked about the wages in surrounding counties as well as other types of positions in the county.
Mr. Gorton asked if another week would work for all Commissioners and that was agreed. It was also agreed to remove that part of the financial report and table the supplemental for the wage increases.
17:31 Min. The Department of Water Resources received approval to amend the motion from July 21, 2026, to revise the dates of advertisement, to read: grant permission to advertise for Bids for Sludge/Biosolids/Filter Bed Sand Disposal, to be held on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at 2:00 pm. Notice of this Bid Opening will be advertised on the county website July 23, 2026, and in the newspaper on July 30, 2026, and August 6, 2026. Mr. Gorris said that they had missed an advertising deadline, which is why they need this amended motion on the dates.
18:33 Min. The Commissioners’ Office received approval for the following:
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to execute Resolution #26-118 Sixth Amendment, Approving the use of County Credit Cards for the Year 2026 for Agencies and Cardholders to add and remove users for the County Engineer’s Office (Geauga Credit Union – VISA), pursuant to O.R.C. 301.27.
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to authorize the President of the Board to execute the Applications for Authorization for the use of County Credit Cards forms for the Year 2026, per O.R.C. 301.27 for the County Engineer’s Office (Geauga Credit Union – VISA).
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to move the regular scheduled meeting on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, to be held on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at the same time as 9:30 am, due to the Perry Nuclear Power Plant Evaluated Drill.
18:54 Min. Board Discussion – Mr. Dvorak said, “I have one item. A couple years ago, we gave $100,000 to the Middlefield Cardinal School District for the ACE program, and I just wonder if they could come in and give us an update on their education program.” Mrs. Brakey asked what the program was about. Mr. Dvorak said that the ACE program is supposed to be concentrating on agriculture, aeronautics and any type of trade that kids work with their hands. Observer Note: See recent reporting about ACE in the Geauga Maple Leaf here and the LWVGeauga Observer Report on the January 4, 2024 Commissioners meeting here. The $100,000 was approved to be paid to ACE through Community and Economic Development.
20:29 Min. Public Comment
A man from South Russell talked about Liberty Camp Geauga. He also spoke highly about a program to be presented at the Burton Library that Thursday at 6 pm featuring Patrick Henry Jolly (a descendant of Patrick Henry) who runs the Patrick Henry Museum. He said it is a “private museum, but it is protected for the people of the United States so that they can't mess with it.”
Anastasia Nicholas, Chagrin Valley Times, asked why the Treasurer’s wage increases and wage study were not on the Agenda, and Mr. Dvorak said that it was in the Financials so they could discuss it.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval at 9:54 am to move into Executive Session to consider the discipline of a public employee, pursuant to O.R.C. 121.22 (G)(1).
1:13:22 Min. Return from Executive Session at 10:43 am with no action
1:13:40 Min. Adjournment at approximately 10:58 am.
Next Meeting: The next Regular meeting will be Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at 9:30 am at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: July 30, 2026
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