Sheriff Salary

BY JOHN PATTERSON AND WESLEY YOUNG
SALISBURY POST

County commissioners Monday voted to pay Sheriff-elect George Wilhelm the same salary as outgoing Sheriff Bob Martin, which represents a raise of $46,255.

The decision, which carried 4-1 after discussion among commissioners in closed session, means Wilhelm - currently a captain with the Spencer Police Department - will see a 155 percent pay increase when he takes office Dec. 7.

Wilhelm will make approximately $76,000 a year as sheriff; in Spencer, his annual salary is $29,745.

The decision to pay Wilhelm the same as Martin - not the obvious difference in the Sheriff-elect's Spencer salary and new county salary - was the source of debate among commissioners at Monday's meeting, according to Commissioner Newton Cohen.

Cohen said he voted against paying Wilhelm the same at Martin. By paying Wilhelm the same as Martin, commissioners would be starting Wilhelm out at the top of his pay range. Cohen said he had "nothing against the new sheriff but that he needed to prove himself.''

"He is at the top of his range,'' Cohen said this morning. "Eighty thousand is the top of the range, and he is going to be making 76. It is just not the thing to do.''

In other cases where a new jobholder has taken over a top county slot, Cohen said, the county always dropped the salary back to a lower level.

"Bob Martin started out at $34,000 and worked his way up ... through merit pay, cost of living (increases), market adjustments one or two times through the years,'' Cohen said. "George (Wilhelm) is a fine fellow. I'm not going to say whether I voted for him or not. I'm a Republican. George just hasn't got the track record. He shouldn't be started there.''

Wilhelm said this morning he didn't think his salary would be "such a controversial topic.''

"The people of Rowan County felt like I could do a better job as sheriff ... if they hadn't thought that, they wouldn't have voted for me,'' Wilhelm said. "They didn't vote for me as Sheriff so they could get a cheaper sheriff. I don't think that was in anybody's mind when they voted for me. I didn't even realize it was going to be a controversial subject.''

Wilhelm said he assumed he would make the same amount as Martin.

"I thought the salary should stay the same because the voters thought I could do a better job,'' Wilhelm said.

In response to Cohen's claim that he doesn't have the "track record,'' Wilhelm pointed to his 18 years in law enforcement, 15 spent at the Sheriff's Office.

"I have the training and experience ... I've been working my whole life, going to school and going to training, to get to this position,'' Wilhelm said. "I feel like I'm qualified, and I feel like the people of Rowan County think I'm qualified.''