Village trustees voted 4 to 2 Monday in favor of more than doubling their annual pay, arguing that the change brings them in line with similarly sized communities, such as Evanston.
The proposal by trustees Bob Tucker and Adam Salzman increases the mayor’s annual pay from $10,800 to $25,200 and trustees pay from $7,200 to $15,000. The ordinance would not change the village clerk’s salary of $76,625.
The proposal faced criticism from trustees Peter Barber and Colette Lueck, the two no votes on the ordinance.
Both Barber and trustee Glenn Brewer, who was not present at the meeting, face re-election in the upcoming village election in April. Lueck, whose term is up next spring, has said she does not plan to seek another term on the board.
The change would not affect trustees and the mayor until after the 2017 election. Trustee terms are staggered, so the three trustees elected in 2015 – Salzman, Andrea Button-Ott and Tucker – would not receive the pay increase unless they seek re-election in 2019.
The increased pay closely mirrors that of elected officials in Evanston – the mayor there is paid $25,317 and trustees $15,990 – Tucker said, arguing, “I think these proposed amounts are incredibly fair even though I’m not going to get a dime of it.”
He added that the increase could help bring in a more diverse group of trustee candidates, arguing that the cost of child care and other issues associated with attending meetings can be too much of a burden for some who would otherwise serve on the board.
“I try to encourage people with lesser means to be involved [in village government], and I know these things hold them back,” Tucker said.
Salzman said the fiscal impact to the village budget was negligible and in no way would change the council-manager form of government in which trustees are essentially public servants who make policy decisions to be carried out by the village manager, who is not an elected official.
“If enacted tonight, the council-manager form of government remains as is,” Salzman said.
Barber voted against the ordinance, arguing that the pay increase for trustees was too high.
“I don’t think the amount is going to get an avalanche of better qualified candidates,” he said, adding that he supported the increase for the mayor.
Barber unsuccessfully attempted to amend the ordinance to reduce the trustee pay increase to $10,800 a year. The motion to amend was not seconded and, therefore, did not receive a vote.
Barber, a former president of the District 97 elementary school board, noted that school board members are not compensated for their service.
Lueck also opposed the pay increase, arguing that to suggest that increased pay would result in trustees with higher commitment, dedication and passion was “an insult to the people who have served on the board for the last 20 years.”
“You can buy a lot of babysitting for $12,000,” she said.
The meeting took an unexpected turn when Village Clerk Teresa Powell attempted to make the case for increasing the clerk’s pay as well.
Powell argued in the comment section of a previous story in Wednesday Journal that the clerk’s pay has not kept pace with pay increases for other village employees.
“The salary of the village clerk has not been raised along with other employees of the village in the past eight years as it had I the previous 36 years,” Powell wrote prior to the meeting.
Powell wrote that the position is paid “roughly 30 percent less than an average department head. It should also be addressed.”
At the Monday night meeting, Powell attempted to weigh in but was told she could only address the proposed ordinance.
Salzman told Powell that if her comments were to go beyond the scope of the ordinance, “I would ask the village attorney if that is out of order or germane to the item before us.”
Powell spoke briefly arguing that the ordinance should have addressed “all elected officials.”
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com