How much should commissioners be paid?

     I hesitate to comment on how much a commissioner should be paid, because everything is different now that they've gone from three at large for the whole county to five serving only their district, or in a couple of cases, citizens of their district and others who share certain interests, county residents or not.
     Also, in full disclosure, I now have to admit that among the things I didn't know when I first ran for commissioner was how much the job paid.
     I thought it paid about $30,000 a year, but after I filed for office, I was told the salary had been increased by the delegation in Annapolis to $45,000. It was done under the radar, one of those "local courtesy" actions affecting only the requesting county, during the term of Frazier, Dell and Gouge. There was apparently no opposition from the incumbents.
    The story was that certain conservative lawmakers, or those with influence, wanted to reward incumbent Robin Frazier, in particular, for the fine job she was doing as commissioner saving the taxpayers the cost of big government. Keep payouts to the public small by paying the deciders well, was the idea, I guess.
     When Frazier failed to win a second term, those same Annapolis representative tried to get the salary changed back, even reduced further, but that didn't get enough support in the state capitol.
     I was surprised to learn that the commissioners got $12 a day -- per diem, so much per day in addition to the annual salary. My first impression was that it was excessive, but then it became apparent that the job for at-large commissioners was not a three-days per week thing at all. It was usually five, sometimes seven.
     Then there was the gas mileage or a county car. I did not want a county car; nor did I think it was appropriate to get gas mileage for showing up for work. It seemed reasonable to provide a car or reimburse mileage for trips that were made on county business. In any case, the policy is worth no more than the ethics of the driver, or the person coming in on non-meeting days.
     It would seem to me, now that each commissioner serves a specific district, that there is less justification for cross-county or out of county travel. Per diem, which this board made a show of giving up before they knew what the job entails, might be another story, but it would be hard for them to reinstate it now, unless they can do it on the side, which is not inconceivable, considering their track record on openness so far.