Decker retires after 35 years with sheriff’s office
By Kayleigh Rahn
The Douglas County board during a special meeting Thursday, Nov. 29 approved the tentative budget and levy for the coming fiscal year and took action on a personnel item that comes with the close of 35-year career for a county employee.
The board approved a request from Sheriff’s Office executive administrator Sandra Decker to receive payment for five weeks of unused vacation time from the 2018 fiscal year.
The Douglas County board issued the allocation due to the fact that she was not presented and did not sign off on the most current personnel policy that states personnel vacation cannot be accrued and employees will not be paid compensation for unused time.
The personnel policy, sexual harassment policy, and the drug use policy will be re-presented to every Douglas County employee prior to the end of the year, Douglas County Clerk Judi Pollock said. Employees will be required to sign off on those documents and all employee signature documents will be returned to Pollock’s office.
“We have found out there are a lot of employees that were not presented the personnel policy,” Pollock said. “We were under the assumption that everyone had received the policy and everyone signed off, but that apparently has not been the case.”
“It’s a mess that needs to be clarified,” Board member Tom Glenn said.
The topic will be followed up by the board’s personnel, legal, and management committee, which was slated to meet Tuesday, Dec. 4.
Prior to closing the meeting, county board Chairman Don Munson thanked Decker for her many years of service.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Decker responded with a smile.
When asked by Munson she agreed that time flies.
“I can remember driving in across the street where your new building is,” Decker said. “Then we moved out to where we are today. It’s gone fast, and I enjoyed every minute of it, or I wouldn’t have stayed this long. Every minute of every day was a different experience. It was never routine and I enjoyed it. It’s been fun.”
The full story can be found in the Wednesday, Dec. 5 edition of The Tuscola Journal.