By a 5-to-1 vote, the Elmwood Township Board of Trustees decided on Thursday that Supervisor Deri Smith will be paid as much as the township's clerk and treasurer, thus bringing to a close a long-running controversy in Elmwood politics.

According to this Record-Eagle story, Smith's pay was raised to $35,750, finally bringing her compensation in line with those of Clerk Connie Preston and Treasurer Debbie Street. Shortly after Smith's election as Supervisor in 2004, the outgoing board voted to cut the incoming supervisor's salary from $33,384 to $28,000. That board's membership included then-Supervisor Noel Flohe and Trustees John Stanek and John Gallagher, as well as Preston, Street, and current trustees Terry Lautner and Jim O'Rourke. Street was the only member of the board to vote against Smith on Thursday.

Flohe and Stanek were later active in an unsuccessful attempt to recall Smith, and both were recently convicted of defaming Smith in an anonymous mailing. Flohe was the only member of the public to speak Thursday night against restoring Smith's salary.