On the Wednesday morning, before Thanksgiving when most of Dayton is talking turkey and getting ready for the holiday, the Dayton City Commission is going to be porking out on a pay raise as an emergency ordinance.
An emergency ordinance is one that is brought to the table, and voted on twice on the same day, so it can go into effect right away, instead of the normal process where it takes two meetings of the commission, two readings and a 30-day waiting period.
before
Why is a pay raise an emergency? Who knows. After Nan campaigned so long and hard about “Cutting her own pay”- I guess it’s time to make up for it.
The compensation committee meets to evaluate the pay and make suggestions. A sitting commission can’t give itself a raise, so after an election and before they take office for the new term, is when the vote happens. Of course, doing this BEFORE the election and before the results are known would make more sense- but, then it may be an election issue if they give themselves a raise. The committee is:
The City of Dayton Compensation Board meeting was called to order on October 18, 2013, at 12:0S p.m. with the following members present:, Chairman Kevin Jones, Judge Daniel G. Gehres, Mr. Jerome Dix, Ms. Mary Ellington and Mr. Jeffrey Gonya.
Note- they met over a month ago-before the election. Here is their complete recommendation: Dayton Commission Pay Raise [1]
- The recommendation is as follows:
Increase the annual compensation for the Mayor and Commissioners by two percent. - An allowance for the official use of personal vehicles, including maintenance, insurance and gasoline, shall increase from $320.00 per month to $350.00 per month.
- Current benefits such as health/dental, life insurance, retirement contributions, and other miscellaneous benefits currently in place shall continue
The amount of the raise isn’t that much, but after years of belt tightening, and the coming renewal of the income tax levy, this is probably not a good time for a raise. Of course, this could be a political stunt engineered just so they can vote it down and say “look at me.”
But, things like this should never qualify as an emergency ordinance. There should be time for public discussion. Mayor Leitzell has already said he’s voting no.
Other news organizations, please note, this was first reported on Esrati.com
Must be nice!
You said what I was thinking, about Nan’s campaign note that she waived pay increases. As for making this emergency and then voting it down to make themselves look good, they aren’t that stupid, are they ?
So how much does a city commissioner make per year? The link you provided called for a 2% increase but did not list the current rate.
@NKA- you don’t think that’s intentional? I think the Commission currently makes $37.5K and the Mayor $45K – but don’t quote me.
Why not increase their pay by a lot, and make these jobs attractive to highly qualified people?
I’m not sure that the requirements of the commission’s job requires “highly qualified people”. It really only requires fiscal responsibility and common sense, IMO…. They don’t run the city on a day-to-day basis. That’s the city manager’s job, and that position pays rather well, along with various department heads, supervisors, etc.
From the DBJ:
The DDN has “raw video” (read: taken with a smartphone or tablet) and Gary’s little digs about the # of votes rec’d by Nan as well as the amount of money spent were downright childish. I’m sorry, but it sounds like what a sore loser would say… And I shudder to think that, and more so to admit this, I agree with many of the points made by Nan ! Gary argues that Mims doesn’t deserve a raise, but correct me if I’m wrong, the commissioners aren’t paid based on length of their time on the board. Nan’s point about keeping the compensation level up-to-date is perfectly valid and if she or any other member chooses to waive the increase personally, so be it.
@Hall- no, the childish behavior is spending half a million to get elected- talking about how she took a pay raise, then trying to blame the people Gary appointed for her acceptance of the raise- and voting for it as an emergency.
No- the pay isn’t based on longevity- but- if Dean stays 3 years- his pension goes up- which may be by pay in calendar years- which is why the rush- making sure he gets the bump in 2013 so when his term is up in 2015 he makes a few dollars more- if he lasts that long.