The council next Tuesday will consider raising the salaries of the mayor, district and at-large council members, city clerk, and city treasurer positions. I can’t actually say “raising their own salaries,” because the new salaries won’t take effect until after the next election. In other words, if they pass this increase, they’ll only get the raise if they get reelected.
Here are the proposed salaries and car allowances:
| Position | Salary | Car Allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Mayor | $32,400 | $475/month |
| District Councilman | $14,000 | $400/month |
| At-Large Councilman | $14,000 | $400/month |
The City Clerk and City Treasurer salaries are the same, and would increase by 5% each year as follows:
| Period | Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| May 5, 2009 to May 4, 2010 | $94,264.80 |
| May 5, 2010 to May 4, 2011 | $98,978.04 |
| May 5, 2011 to May 4, 2012 | $103,926.94 |
| May 5, 2012 to May 4, 2013 | $109,123.29 |
It’s funny — in a private company, salaries are something that is kept secret among the staff. And generally, most people don’t disclose their salary to others. But if you work for the city or some other public body, your salary is public knowledge. Everybody knows. Your co-workers, your friends, your neighbors. They all know what you make. That has to feel a bit awkward at times.
The Mayor drives a car with company plates. Are taxpayers in essence reimbursing his employer, or how does that work?
That’s it. They make more than I do as a college professor! I’m running for City Clerk! What the hell do they do, anyway?
What are they being paid now? Doesn’t just about everyone get a cost of living increase each year? Even us on social security get that. If their increase is reasonable, they deserve it.
“salaries are something that is kept secret among the staff.” That isn’t necessarily a good policy. Indeed there is a small but growing movement afoot to change that.
It’s the same situation for those of us who work in churches, and yes – it does feel very awkward. The entire church (including friends, family & neighbors) holds a meeting where they discuss your salary and whether or not to vote you in as pastor – ‘campaigning’ aside, it’s very similar to the political process.
As regular readers know, I’m no fan of the Peoria City Council, but I will say this, I wouldn’t be a Peoria City Councilman for $14k a year. Granted, they have no boss, so they can work as much or as little as they want, but I suspect most spend a fair amount of time reading stuff, talking to citizens (hum, maybe Dist. 150 could take a hint?), not to mention going to those awful meetings.
On the other hand, 109+K a year for City Clerk? Where do I apply for that job?
What private sector company employees get a 5% raise every year, regardless of their job performance?
“Doesn’t just about everyone get a cost of living increase each year?”
Mmm NO.
Mouse… I claimed dibs first.
I feel like I need to go take a shower.
Mouse: ” On the other hand, 109+K a year for City Clerk? Where do I apply for that job?”
That would be the City Election Commission on SW Adams. Walk in, ask for a petition for City Clerk. Spend the next few weeks collecting signatures. Then, if you get enough signatures to get on the ballot, you spend the next few months trying to convince voters you will do a better job than everyone else who is running.
Of course, you can’t do this and remain anonymous.
If you win, you will have your regular day-to-day job at city hall. THEN there are meetings, at least twice a month. To stay in the job, you will probably need to be active in the community. You won’t be paid for this activity.
If you want to maintain the professional standards of the current holder of this job, you will need some training, too, I believe. After all, the laws setting forth the city clerk’s responsibilities can be somewhat complicated. How familiar are you with Robert’s Rules of Order?
I’m sure there are other aspects to this job that I am forgetting or am not aware. Others will no doubt fill in the blanks.
I am sure fulfilling Gary Sandberg’s constant requests for documentation can be somewhat time consuming, too.
Our Mayor is worth hi weight in gold, he is a very hard worker , who as far as i feel should have more money . He is hands on . you will see him at about every event in our community and beyond …. Our Council people also are hands on… Our at large always go that extra mile and i would support a raise for them all.
Mamma Hen,
Working hard at what? Their tans, chain smoking, arrogant rants, mind boggling ignorance?
The city is facing a budget deficit because there has been no vision, no philosophy, no planning, no strategy, and worst of all low expectations. The city council’s responsibility is to provide structure for safety and prosperity. They are not doing their job. Appearances at public events and poorly thought out programs are nothing more than a feel good charade- they do not work.
Let me give you just one example of a good intention, but not carefully planned:
Peoria Promise
The idea was copied from Kalamazoo, Michigan where, similar to Peoria, they were witnessing population flight from the central core and hence from the Kalamazoo school district. They wanted to give people an incentive to come back to the central city. It was an economic development strategy to bring people back to the city of Kalamazoo through an education incentive. Impressive considering that at the time of its announcement a deeper recession was years away. Now, I am sure more and more Kalamazoo families will see full tuition for their children more attractive than ever.
If Peoria Promise had been offered exclusively to District 150 students and valid for all Illinois colleges and universities it may have been a successful tool to encourage middle income families to move back to District 150 instead of moving to Dunlap etc. As it stands today a child can attend Dunlap schools and still qualify for a Peoria Promise scholarship to ICC. I am not knocking ICC- it is certainly an excellent choice for students who are not ready, or can not afford, a four year college or university. However, Peoria Promise fails to spur home ownership within District 150 boundaries and student enrollment in district schools. District 150 will not turn on a dime; however, how will it ever turn around without racial and economic demographic balance?
As more and more people move away from the central city the tax base weakens and we lose city revenue. This is why the city council will most certainly have to raise taxes and cut services. Mamma Hen, raise or no raise, please think about how our elected officials typically fail to see their weaknesses and use feel good appearances and community barbeques to appear as if they are working hard to solve our city’s problems. They appear to listen – but their voting record speaks volumes about how well they understand public policy. If they worked for anyone but themselves or the government they would be out of a job.
This pickle didn’t happen overnight- Peoria is seeing red because of bad decisions and lack of focus for years. The responsibility falls on the shoulders of many of the current and past elected officials. Regardless of the number of good intentions and appearances at neighborhood events- the proof is in the pudding and it is not turning out well.
Billy, in case you haven’t noticed, there are thousands of workers in central illinois that do all of the sorts of things you described as duties of the City Clerk, and more, and they don’t get paid anything close to $109k a year. I also suspect the Clerk has assistants, who do a lot of the work (like responding to Gary’s request?), paid for by the taxpayers.
Our City Clerk has been in office for many years and is top notch at her job. I have had numerous occasions to call on her for information and she has been johnny on the spot and very pleasant about it. She has a huge responsibility and carries it off with excellent aplomb. I only know her through her job so this is not a personally, so can only attest to her abilities that I have run across. The amount she is paid probably sounds large, but as I stated before, she has been there for many years and does her job well and with courtesy.