Raise exceeding $16,000 for Oklahoma Broadband Office’s executive director approved

OKLAHOMA CITY – A raise of over $16,000 for the executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office was approved Tuesday. 

The Broadband Governing Board approved the salary increase for Mike Sanders, the executive director, which brings his salary to $201,175. The increase is effective immediately. 

A spokesperson for the Broadband Office said his salary was previously $185,000.

For the 2025 fiscal year, the Broadband Office budgeted just over $2.6 million for the salaries of personnel. Sanders’ increased salary accounts for about 7.5% of that budget. 

Sanders thanked the board for their confidence in him and said he “won’t let them down.”

The board discussed the change in compensation, along with a performance evaluation of Sanders, during an executive session. 

After returning to executive session, Jim Meek, chair of the board, said Sanders passed the evaluation with his performance found to be “exceeding or meeting all standards.” 

Meek said the increase in compensation for Sanders was first discussed in a committee July 5, but approval and further discussion was delayed until the Tuesday meeting. 

He said the board was waiting on information from the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services to be able to discuss the proposed change which was not made available until after the July 9 meeting. 

Sanders was approved as the first director of the office in March 2023 and previously served as a representative in the Oklahoma House from 2008 to 2020. Gov. Kevin Stitt pushed the board to hire Sanders for the position, according to reporting from NonDoc. 

The Broadband Office is tasked with expanding broadband access across Oklahoma using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and allocations from the state legislature.