By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
The Oxford Village Council approved 6.1 percent annual salary increases for Village Manager Joe Madore and Clerk/Treasurer Tere Onica, following their annual performance reviews. The raises include national average Cost of Living increases of 2.8% for 2019 and 1.3% for 2020, with an additional 2% performance increase.
The council publicly recognized their experience, qualifications and accomplishments at its Jan. 12 meeting.
Hired in Dec. 2017, this is Madore’s first raise since Dec. 2018. Village President Kelsey Cooke said he has made “significant improvements” saving the village “substantial amounts of money” on contracts, legal bills and other expenses.
“We really recognize the talent of Mr. Madore and we want to make sure that we retain that talent,” Cooke said. “He’s led the village to the great point that it’s at right now and I know he’ll continue to lead us into the future as well.”
For one example, he saved the village over $8,600 on the phone service contract for the village administrative office and police department.

“Through the pandemic shutdown, Mr. Madore was able to keep the office running, make sure that the phones were answered, even when they couldn’t be in the office for some time, make sure all the general questions were answered, schedule inspections and also comply with our state’s lead and copper rule requirements.”
Madore coordinated replacing lead service lines with the M-24 project and “mitigated a massive expense to the water system fund.”
Councilmember Lori Borgeau said, “Anybody who’s ever had any contact with the village, you’ve spoken with Joe and he’s just great customer service. He’s always available and does a great job of communicating. And on top of all of that just handling everything every day and then any resident complaints or concerns along the way, he’s always available and does a great job with it.”
Tere Onica was hired as Treasurer/Clerk in July 2018. This is her first raise since July 2019. “She has a wealth of experience and knowledge that she’s brought to the village and we’re very lucky to have her,” Cooke said. “She seems to always have the answer, know where to find it . . . and really helps lead the village and all of its boards and commissions in the right direction.”
Onica has been a certified municipal clerk since 2003. In 2014, she was named clerk of the year by the Michiagn Association of Municipal Clerks. She was also Atlas Township’s supervisor from 2016-2020.
Cooke described how she helped clean up the books when she was first hired by “questioning the village’s accounting procedures and unreconciled accounts and excessive cash transfers between accounts. She systematically closed bank accounts, consolidated funds and initiated cash accounting system that was reconfigured under her direction.”
The numbers speak for themselves. Oakland County’s investment pool account balances for the village grew from $955,591 when Onica arrived, to a just over $3.2 million this past year. “Those numbers go to show right there the work Ms. Onica has done.”

Cooke also noted that fiscal year 2020 is the third year in a row the village audit was completed in three days with no adjusting journal entries. And auditors recorded an unmodified opinion, which is the highest audit assurance. “She does a lot of quality control for us to say the least,” Cooke said.
“Both Tere and Joe come to the village with decades of experience,” said Councilmember Ashley Ross. “Obviously their work stands for itself on its own for the cost-savings for the efficacy that they’ve provided, but we really value them and they’ve done an excellent job and their wealth of knowledge is really invaluable.”
Village Attorney Bob Davis echoed the above statements. “Your current village manager and your current clerk certainly make my role much easier. And I think it reflects in cost savings to the village as a whole. There are many things that they both take care of that historically would have required more legal time which is more expense. Whenever I contact the clerk or the village manager the responses are not only timely but very thorough. . . I think you’re being very well-served.”
Madore thanked the council. “Our review process this year was a good process, a lot of engagement from the full council and it’s great to be recognized and acknowledged and appreciated as always and I really want to say thank you to all of you. And we’ll continue to do more for 2021 on the horizon.”
Onica concurred with Madore’s sentiments. “Thank you for the trust and confidence that you’ve placed in us, in doing our jobs and working with the people of Oxford. You know, Oxford truly is a great place to live, it’s a great place to shop and it’s a great place to work. So thank you very much.”