On a split 3-2 vote, the Wabash County Health Board has voted to limit the pay of health department administrator Judy Wissel. Meeting over the noon hour yesterday, board member Rob Dean’s motion to move Wissel to salary from hourly pay was approved, but a second motion to set Wissel’s pay at $75,000 a year was defeated by the same 3-2 vote.

In November, a similar proposal from Dean was voted down by the health board, but Dean reintroduced the proposal yesterday saying Wissel was paid $140,000 during the pandemic year of 2020, which was out of line with other county employees who also went above and beyond their job descriptions. But, board member Theresa Marcotte took exception to Dean’s proposal…

Dean said he believed Wissel’s $55,000 increase in pay last year would put the county in jeopardy of excessive charges from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. But, Marcotte challenged Dean to come up with more concrete information….

In the end, Dean was joined by fellow board members Carolyn Peach and Mark Brines in moving Wissel to a salary. But, Brines sided with Marcotte and board chair Marcia Hall in rejecting Dean’s bid to cap Wissel’s salary at $75,000 a year. Instead, Wissel’s pay will revert to the base rate set in August of 2020 at $99,000.