[RP TownTalk] Mayor and Council salaries, problems and solutions

Mon Dec 4 18:11:24 UTC 2006

You all make excellent points. I join Kate Kelly in the camp that says pay our officials more.  David Hiles is so right about hiring and paying quality workforce personnel.  

Marita A. Novicky

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> From: towntalk-request at riverdale-park.org
> Subject: TownTalk Digest, Vol 5, Issue 6
> To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
> Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 12:00:04 +0000
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> Today's Topics:
> 
>    1. Re: Mayor and Council Salaries (Rob Oppenheim)
>    2. Revenue - Problems - Solutions (Rob Oppenheim)
>    3. Fwd:  Mayor and Council Salaries (Kate Kelly)
>    4.  Revenue - Problems - Solutions (David Hiles)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2006 17:32:44 -0500
> From: Rob Oppenheim <oppenheim at email.com>
> Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Mayor and Council Salaries
> To: TownTalk <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
> Message-ID: <2006123173244.512605 at Rob2>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> On Sun, 3 Dec 2006 08:41:23 -0500, Alice Ewen Walker wrote:
> >...Including?OC?in?the?average?benchmarks?for?salaries?bumps?the?average?up?quite?a?bit.?
> ?
> FYI, we omitted Ocean City (OC) in the adjusted average, along with some 
> other adjustments to make it more relevant to our situation and time frame. 
> The numbers did not change much. Less for the mayor, more for council...
> Adjusted Average was $689 for council and $915 for mayor.
> ?
> http://riverdale-park.org/pipermail/towntalk/2006-September/000901.html
> ?
> Similar sized towns deal with similar problems and is a reasonable comparison.
> Looking at budgets is good too.
> ?
> District Heights and Glenarden are the two towns that are near our size whose
> budgets are nearest to ours. District heights $4.5, Glenarden $2.2, RP $3.6.
> 
> An average of District Height and Glenarden yields $650 council, $850 Mayor
> 
> 
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> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2006 18:09:35 -0500
> From: Rob Oppenheim <oppenheim at email.com>
> Subject: [RP TownTalk] Revenue - Problems - Solutions
> To: TownTalk <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
> Message-ID: <200612318935.504215 at Rob2>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> Let me see if I can clarify a few items recently discussed here.
> 
> Revenues Fluctuate. 
> 
> A few years ago there was a revenue shortfall that resulted in cut backs. 
> We are in pretty good shape right now. Don?t get me wrong. There is 
> not a ton of money, but there is some. We can, and are, doing things
> to improve this town.
> 
> The Good News
> 
> As a result of increased revenues, we were able to increase funding for
> police and front office staff. It takes time to see results from increased 
> staffing. Hiring people in government takes a long time. Then there is 
> training time, followed by time spent clearing the backlog of work. 
> Routine turnover in staff also slows progress. But progress is being made. 
> 
> The police department is now well funded and fully staffed and at a high
> point. E.g., there was a patrol car posted at the path next to Greg?s towing
> last night. This area needs better lighting too. The street lamps above
> this area on E-W highway are out. (You would not believe how much time
> and effort it takes to get street lamps fixed.)
> 
> We have had some success here. Some lights that have been dark for 
> years are now lit. I have a commitment from the state highway dept
> to fix those lamps on E-W highway. I will probably have to follow up and 
> remind them several times before it gets done. Once those lamps are fixed, 
> we can look at the area again to see if still more lighting is appropriate. 
> 
> The Bad News
> 
> We all worry that our town is slipping into disrepair, over crowding, and crime.
> 
> These are big problems that need long-term solutions. The ?whack a mole?
> approach won't fix them. Nor will just increasing staff. 
> 
> We need long-term, visionary solutions that come from the top - the council. 
> We need creative, can do leaders. I think we have a few - we need more.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 03 Dec 2006 22:31:15 -0500
> From: Kate Kelly <kelly.kate at verizon.net>
> Subject: [RP TownTalk] Fwd:  Mayor and Council Salaries
> To: TownTalk at riverdale-park.org
> Message-ID: <6D4A92AD-8398-4CFB-B1BE-CDC02C162504 at verizon.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Mayor and Council Salaries
> >
> > My $600 on this: Our elected officials are worth a lot more than  
> > that. If you're polling, put me in the "pay the mayor and council  
> > more" column.
> > KK
> 
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> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 4
> Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2006 22:49:11 -0500
> From: David Hiles <hilesd at mindspring.com>
> Subject: [RP TownTalk]  Revenue - Problems - Solutions
> To: TownTalk at riverdale-park.org
> Message-ID: <85e7f746fcfc97bd313f4697c81c6ea0 at mindspring.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
> 
> My messages to this list are being moderated because I was judged to 
> have violated the posting standards.
> ************************************
> 
> Salaries:
> When I was walking my ward a while back, I met a lot of good people.  
> Many of them could have been good on the council.  They would have 
> brought new ideas and energy to the group.  But they work two jobs.  If 
> the council paid better, they might be able to cut back on the second 
> job and participate. The ideal of selfless public service is ancient.  
> Paying for public service so that the less well-off can join in is more 
> modern, but still honorable.
> 
> It is a good investment to make council membership attractive to all 
> members of our community.  If there are lots of good candidates out 
> there who step up and and run every election, then maybe there is no 
> problem.  The quality and depth of the candidate pool varies some by 
> ward.  We need forward-thinking, energetic representatives in every 
> seat. If you aren't willing to pay for salary increases, please don't 
> say you are in favor, but not right now.  If not now, when?  If not 
> you, who?
> 
> Inflation happens.  Set an attractive salary and then escalate it 
> annually by law using the DC MSA federal pay increase.  That takes pay 
> out of the list of diversionary, low-priority things to run elections 
> about.   Having big voting battles about inflation-driven pay increases 
> makes as much sense as voting against a barometric pressure increase.  
> Spend your scarce time and energy on the important stuff.
> 
> Councilmembers who don't need the salary or an increase have always 
> been able to donate it back to the town.  Some members in the past 
> earmarked their forgone salary for priority projects.  Incredibly, some 
> people complained about the earmarking.
> 
> Revenue:
> Local gov't revenue varies, often more than spending.  When big 
> properties are developed, revenue increases. When big properties sit 
> vacant, they generate less revenue.  Try the land value tax and see if 
> it works.  You could always repeal it if it didn't work.  Riverdale 
> seems to be vulnerable to this kind of swing because of the big parcels 
> which are still in play within our boundaries.  The recurring 
> revenue-spending problem calls for a council which can think over 
> multiple years and develop long term budgets for planning purposes.  
> Changing the term of office from 2 to 4 years would help develop a 
> longer frame of vision.
> 
> Solutions:
> Staff inefficiency plays into the pay argument.  Somebody recently 
> said, "Hiring people in government takes a long time. Then there is 
> training time, followed by time spent clearing the backlog of work. It 
> takes time to see results from increased staffing. Turnover in staff 
> also slows progress."
> 
> If you want an efficient town staff, then be happy to pay them well 
> enough that they want to stick around, not leave as soon as they are 
> trained. An efficient staff means that all the town functions that we 
> care about get done better.  If an experienced, motivated staff can 
> save us from one lawsuit every ten years, it is cheaper, too.  This 
> idea applies to councilmembers, too.
> 
> We have a problem of scale. By that I mean we are too small to do lots 
> of town functions well or efficiently. No criticism, just an 
> observation.  We already address some of those scale problems 
> implicitly by sharing equipment between jurisdictions or by sharing 
> police through mutual aid agreements.  We could address it explicitly 
> by merging the Town of Riverdale Park with a similar adjacent 
> jurisdiction, like Edmonston.
> 
> Another problem may be one of support.  If someone on the council who 
> you respect says we need something that costs town money for our 
> community, think (longer) before slagging them.  Ditto for someone who 
> proposes a new idea.  Everyone up there deserves our support, because 
> it often isn't all that much fun.
> 
> 
> Glynd?r "I can call spirits from the vasty deep!"
> 
> Hotspur: "Why so can I, or so can any man; but will they come when you 
> do call for them?"
> 
> 
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> End of TownTalk Digest, Vol 5, Issue 6
> **************************************

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