There is no doubt we need better leadership in Dayton. No matter what we pay the Mayor or Commission, the kind of people we need in these positions shouldn’t be doing it for the money.

The jobs are supposed to be part-time, with the City Manager leading and running the city, like a CEO with a board of directors. This hasn’t been the case for a long time, especially since Mike Turner who liked all of the attention focused on him.

The reality is, we don’t really need the commission we have now- what we need is uni-gov and a reduction in numbers of people we elect, and that run our local governments. And, then, yes- we should pay those people more than $30K a year.

When I ran, I offered to tie my compensation to the average household income in Dayton. I still think that pay should be linked to performance. This raise is not.

Frankly, we have at least 2 people on the commission who are living off the “part-time” salary now. Neither are giving us much bang for our buck.

If this is David Bohardt’s best thinking for solving our problems, maybe he wasn’t right to be Mayor and maybe I’m wrong to back him as a candidate for City Manager. I’m sure they will pass the raise, but if they really think this paltry amount will attract better candidates- they are severely mistaken.
Pay hike urged for Dayton mayor, commissioners

Dayton needs to increase the compensation for its mayor and city commissioners if it to wants to continue attracting quality candidates to run for office.

That’s the reasoning behind a proposed 23.5 percent pay increase for the mayor and nearly 22 percent increases for city commissioners, according to David Bohardt, chairman of Dayton’s Compensation Board.

The five-member volunteer board annually reviews the commissioners’ work and makes recommendations on salary and benefits.

No residents attended the public meeting Monday at Dayton City Hall, where the board discussed raising the mayor’s salary from $36,000 to $44,460. The salary of a city commissioner would go from $30,000 to $36,580, if the recommendation is approved.

The City Commission has until Dec. 31 to vote whether to accept the raises, effective January 2007.

Bohardt said the board considered three factors:

• The amount of time and attention residents expect city leaders to devote to the office.
• The concern residents have about attracting high-quality leaders to seek office.
• The economy, or increases in costs for goods and services.

The raises are an all-or-nothing deal, Bohardt said. The City Commission cannot accept a reduced amount.