Kent City Council motions for first raise in 25 years
The Kent City Council overviewed 14 different motions from the Development and Finance Committees and passed each one on Wednesday evening, then proposed two new motions.
Council member Tracy Wallach proposed a review on how the meetings are recorded and made accessible to the public.
Wallach’s motion died because no other council members seconded the motion.
Council member Garret Ferrara followed with an original motioned for a $1,500 raise for the mayor and council members of upcoming elections. The motion was later amended by Council member Roger Sidoti.
“The mayor, Ward Council and the At Large positions would get the same raise of $1,500 per year, which is $125 per month,” Ferrara said. “I think it’s a good time to do this … the council hasn’t had a raise in 25 years.”
Ferarra explained the motion and said, “You’re looking at $6,000 a year for 2018 and $9,000 a year starting at 2020 when the next election cycle would go through.” Ferarra said none of the current council members were guaranteed the raise because they would have to run for re-election in order to receive it.
Council member Heidi Shaffer seconded the motion. She made it clear that they were voting for future council members and that this raise would encourage more people to run for the council seats.
“I think that it’s also an important piece of promoting the position for people to run for,” Shaffer said. “[Some] people … might have to give up some kind of paying job or part-time job to be able to do this work, and do it well.”
However, council members John Kuhar, Roger Sidoti and Robin Turner opposed the original motion on different accounts.
Kuhar said he considered the job his civic duty and that the money is not important for the job.
“It’s just not that important for this position to me,” Kuhar said. “I think that the main thing is trying to do a good job for the citizens at any cost.”
Sidoti opposed it because he said he had problems with the Council At Large receiving the raise.
“I have a big problem with the At Large people receiving anything at this point,” Sidoti said. He said the raise for the At Large should be moved to 2022. “I think it’s bad form for a sitting council person to vote themselves a raise because, in a sense, that’s what I’d be doing.”
Turner opposed because he said the raise was an issue that should be turned to the voters. He said the failed levy was indicative of the citizens’ financial situations and that they would be very critical if the Council voted for a raise.
“I believe that the city council people deserve a raise. I believe that the mayor deserves a raise,” Turner said. “I don’t feel really that in this period we can vote ourselves a raise … but I do believe that giving them the option of compensating us, whether they do or don’t, [is] up to them.”
Turner explained and said, “The issue is about the manner in which you do it, it’s not about asking people for money.”
Heidi Shaffer countered Turner’s argument and said putting a salary raise on the ballot would confuse voters and that the council has the lowest pay rate.
“As the lowest paid council in Portage County, I think it’s very undignified,” Shaffer said.
According to council member Roger Sidoti, city council members, including the mayor, received $6,000 a year, before taxes.
Wallach said the the raise would not increase property taxes, rather, “[t]he money would be coming from revenues that were already being generated from the city.”
Last year, there was a citizens’ panel about the increase in salaries for council member. Sidoti said most people were in favor of increasing the mayor’s salary and not council members.
Sidoti thinks of his work as his civic duty rather than a job. He opposed raising the salary for council members.
After further discussion among the Council over the raise, Sidoti amended the motion so the mayor’s position would receive the $1,500 raise per year starting in 2018, the Ward Council would receive the $1,500 in raise in 2020 and the Council At Large would receive the $1,500 in raise in 2022 with the next election cycle. The Council’s raise would not be per year.
The amended motion passed with two abstaining votes.
The Development Committee and Finance Committee legislation can be found below.
Words by Jillian Holness and Samantha Cottrill
Video and editing by Andrew Mark and Adrian Leuthauser
Kent City Council passed an amended motion for mayor and council position raises for the first time in 25 years.https://t.co/gFis24wzyA
— Sam Cottrill (@SamCottrill) November 16, 2017
Kent City Council members proposed a raise for the first time in 25 years. read the story here https://t.co/Z4ivdZitS4
— Jillian Holness (@jillianholness) November 17, 2017
The Kent city Council proposes a raise.https://t.co/j12Vn5CipO
— Andy Mark (@AndyMotorMark17) November 20, 2017
