Hot stuff here in ESho-land. Local politico to get 200 percent pay raise. Excites envy on Goat Hill. They only got 62 percent and had to take a lot of flak for it.
But the Fairhope City Council did it – raised the salary for the city’s mayor by 200 percent while scarcely raising an eyebrow – $16,000 now and $50,000 when the raise takes effect. For the mathematically uncertain (or obsessive) that’s an increase of $34K which when divided by $16K (current pay), and then rounded (for impact), equals a 200 percent pay increase.
This move by the city council wasn’t without debate. In fact for awhile it looked like there would be no pay raises – nothing for nobody. That was fiscal conservative Mike Ford’s opening and closing position on the issue. Cecil Christenberry proposed a $60,000 raise for the mayor (with the proviso that he would be full time). Debbie Quinn was thumbs-down on this but was OK with a raise $10,000 less – with built-in increases in two $5,000 steps after completing training.
This last proposal was the one that eventually passed – along with more modest raises for the council members (still only part-timers). By law these raises don’t apply to the incumbents, but will kick in after the election of a new mayor (hopefully) and council. So whoever fills these positions after the August municipal elections gets the big bucks just approved.
Since you read my criticism in the previous Lagniappe of the Orange Beach pay raise gyrations (surely you did and even recall every detail), you might well expect that my next paragraph will attack this vote by the city council as more swill-sucking at the public trough. Especially since these pay raises actually got passed and I am one of those Fairhopeans whose utility bills will be paying for these fattened salaries.
Surprise – all this is really fine by me. In fact I think that the final pay for the mayor is too low and should have been set at about $70,000. This gives him just a smidge more than what Mayor Tim Kant is making as public works chief – a position in which he is paid $66K while reporting to himself in his Mayor Tim persona (it’s this latter Kant who gets the aforementioned $16,000).
Once we get a full-time, real, mayor I’ll bet that there will be pressure to plus-up the mayoral compensation at least to the level I suggest – not in base pay (illegal), but through fringe benefits and allowances. Especially since the city is about to hire (maybe have hired, by the time you read this) a new head of electrical services, at a minimum starting salary of $95,000. Think about it – higher pay even though this position is three layers down – doubly subordinate to Tim Kant in each of his two current positions. But I digress – this is another story, maybe even a future column.
So back to the 200 percent pay raise for the mayor of our fair city. It’s a really good thing because it will finally allow the separation of the Office of the Mayor from the Head of Public Utilities. I wasn’t around back when this Siamese-twin arrangement was first approved by the council, but guess that it was a money-saving move. However, its collateral damage has been to insulate the operation of the city utilities from effective oversight by the council, with the additional, more subtle, impact of insulating Mayor Tim from any effective challenge at election time.
Think about it. It’s really hard to make the job of mayor look very attractive when the pay ($16K) is so low as to be little more than a gesture. Sure, the job is only part time and it comes with a nice office (but nothing like the suite being built for Daphne’s mayor – yet another story) and you get a really neat title on your business cards. But the demands of the position make it virtually full time and offices and titles don’t put food on the table.
With the incumbent’s double-dipping setup, everything works out OK. But until now serving as mayor (stand-alone position, without public utilities) would be like serving hard time. Real evidence of its unattractiveness is the absence of serious competition for the office.
And evidence that this fix in pay has opened up the political process is the recent announcement by nine-year resident and businessman, Jack Burrell, that he is running for mayor. A political newcomer, Burrell is likely to be the first of several residents who will throw their hats into the ring. Big change from last election where only one person took on the incumbent Kant and this challenger had so little impact that few can even recall his name.
Mayor Kant has not officially announced if he will seek re-election; however, I understand he has privately let it be known he intends to run. But this looks to be shaping up to be a very different kind of race than he is used to. Perhaps if a few more serious competitors join Jack Burrell, Tim Kant will quietly step aside and retreat back to his position as head of public works.
In any case this upcoming election looks like it will provide Fairhope with some really interesting choices for mayor, as well as the chance to change how city hall works, and the opportunity for true openness in city government. All this for just the price of a pay raise.
Two hundred percent – a high-value investment in Fairhope’s political future and a bargain at twice the price.
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Contact Pete Gleszer at jubilee@lagniappemobile.com.
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