[RP TownTalk] Mayor and Council Salaries

[Marc Molino]

Rob,
Am I correct in the assertion that at least half of the current council 
members also have full-time jobs in addition to their duties on the council? 
I know for me personally, affording time to dedicate to such a job would 
have nothing to do with money and everything to do with simply finding the 
time. It's not as if some extra money replaces the time one might need to be 
spending on other paid work, instead of council duties. I have no issues 
with considering a raise, though I think this would be little incentive to 
create a better council and tieing compensation to participation/performance 
doesn't seem realistic/feasible. Which is why the salary is more like a 
stipend or honorarium--it's a token acknowledgement for the service rendered 
and in no way seems to reflect the amount of blood, sweat, and tears being 
offered.

Out of 6 council members and one mayor--you, Gerry, and Vern are the only 
representatives I consistently see participating on this list and writing 
articles in the Town Crier. That doesn't mean the other council members 
aren't doing anything, it just means that whatever they're doing is not as 
visible (to me personally). Given that it's highly unlikely that any raise 
would be setup based on participation or performance, what is the point of 
the raise?

Again, I'm not against the raise ($300 to $400/month seems reasonable), but 
if you're talking about moving the town forward, it sounds like you're 
asking for greater dedication and participation amongst the citizens and the 
current council members. That's just not something you can buy, nor 
something you can adequately compensate. It is something you can foster and 
I think the increased communication and outreach to the public that this 
council and administration have been doing is building a foundation for 
growth.

I'm not sure I've ever used so many words and yet said so little (sigh).

Sleep beckons,
Marc

From: Rob Oppenheim <rob.oppenheim at comcast.net>
Reply-To: rob.oppenheim at comcast.net
To: TownTalk <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Mayor and Council Salaries
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:53:09 -0400

People do not serve on the council for the money. Yet money matters.
Council members have to be able to afford to dedicate time to the job.

As an example, along with many evenings and weekends, I set aside
Mondays (all day each week) to work on town issues.

I like to be positive about our town. If I were to be fully honest, I think
the town is worse off now than 12 years ago, and we are facing serious,
challenges ahead. The mayor cannot do this alone. A good, creative,
hard working council is critical to bringing us back and to move us forward.

My proposal is not based on inflation, rather on what it will take to move
the town forward. I first suggested a cap of $600/month with pay based
on participation (meaning some would get significantly less). I got shot
full of holes on that, so I backed off to $450/month. Frankly, I doubt if
even that will pass.

-Rob

P.S. Regarding Inflation and what other towns pay ...
 >... So, this would be quite a raise, not simply a Cost of Living 
adjustment.
True. But not as much as it might look at first glance. Arguably the RP
council was underpaid in 1995 when it was last changed.

Back in 1991, Hyattsville started paying $250/mo. In 2004, College Park
started paying $367/mo. Adjust their rates for inflation and project to 2007
and you get about $440/month**. Also consider that these are much larger
towns and have a lot more staff to support the Mayor and Council.
(And they have a larger tax base to afford it too).

**Any pay change will become effective in 2007, so figure 12 years of 
inflation
for RP and 16 years for Hy. I used the Employment Cost Index (ECI) for state
and local government workers,
Ref: http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/blsec/ecu11113i
ECI for Hy at 16 years is about 76% = $440,
ECI for RP at 12 years is about 50% = $300
ECI for CP at 3.5 years is about 14% = $420.

[end]


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