City mulls raising mayor's salary
SANDPOINT — City officials have only begun discussing the possibility of a mayoral raise, but the issue has already split opinions.
Introduced by Councilman Stephen Snedden at Thursday’s administrative committee meeting, the proposal suggests raising the mayor’s salary from $12,000 to the median wage for Bonner County residents — $32,000.
“By only paying $12,000 for what is essentially a full-time job, we are effectively limiting candidates to the retired or the wealthy,” Snedden said.
“On the other hand, the benefit of keeping it at $12,000 is that it attracts people who are only in it for public service, which I think is amazing.”
Snedden said that he was introducing the topic for discussion because of the time factor. Legally speaking, city officials can only approach the issue when the standing mayor won’t benefit from the increase. Therefore, if the council is to examine it at all, their discussions must conclude before August regardless of economic circumstances.
“This is the only time to have this debate,” Snedden said. “I agree that this is a very tough issue to discuss in this economic climate.”
Discussion among the administrative committee remained level-headed and light-hearted, but the proposal provoked a variety of opinions. Councilwoman Marsha Ogilvie opposed the raise.
“This isn’t a battle that I choose to fight,” she said. “I can’t justify this when we’re not willing to give city employees an extra personal day.”
On the other side of the fence, Councilman Justin Schuck felt that a substantial wage increase would be worthwhile to attract trained professionals with experience in city management.
“Generally speaking, I want cities to be run like a business, and I think that’s worth $50,000 to $80,000 a year,” he said.
When the committee asked meeting attendees for opinions, Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency member Steve Lockwood said the issue was controversial even among his friends.
“I’m in the awkward position of having friends on both sides of the issue,” he said. “My personal feeling is that the salary ought to be raised, but I have close friends that will take me to task on that.”
Mayor Gretchen Hellar herself was lukewarm on the idea.
“Keep in mind that using salary to attract is not always the best thing,” she said. “I’m not sure that $32,000 is enough to convince someone to leave a job and run for mayor.”
Hellar maintained that a commitment to the public good was the best motivator for the job.
“In Hinduism, you have certain stages of your life, where you work a job and raise a family, and then it’s time for community service.” she said. “That’s what this job is.”
The debate will move on to the full council during its meeting on April 20. If approved, a mayoral raise of any size wouldn’t go into effect until January 2012.