2014-02-26 Minutes Salary Commission

Home

Salary Commission February 26, 2014 Chair Lassiter inquired whether the Deputy Police Chief is involved in a SHOPO automatic raise at the first of the year and then another increase in July. Ms. Toriano replied that all of the positions listed in the proposals fall under the purview of the Salary Commission. Proposal #4: Again, it reflects a 4% across-the-board increase with the exception of those highlighted in yellow, which includes the Mayor, Managing Director, Deputy Managing Director, Parks and Recreation Director, and the Parks and Recreation Deputy Director. Chair Lassiter thanked Ms. Toriano for a job well done. Ms. Toriano thanked her for her guidance, and that she couldn't have done it without the support of the staff that did all the work. Chair Lassiter asked the Commissioners if they had any questions for Ms. Toriano. There were none. Ms. Stebbins informed the Commission that they could now entertain a motion regarding acceptance of any of the proposals. Chair Lassiter asked the Commission for a motion on the proposals. Motion: Mr. De Lima stated that he's not comfortable with any of the proposals, but for purposes of discussion, moved for the adoption of Proposal #1. The motion was seconded by Mr. Sumja. Mr. De Lima reiterated that he's uncomfortable with voting on any of the proposals today. He's not supportive of increasing the Mayor's salary given his public position on the increase. We could adopt the Mayor's increase effective the year his term expires, so the person who runs for this office would know what the salary is going to be. When the person gets elected, they could take the same position that they're not going to receive any increase until the next election. The same would apply for the Prosecuting Attorney. Mr. De Lima commented that he's just thinking out loud and he's not proposing that the changes be made now. Mr. De Lima stated that he's always thought the Corporation Counsel should be paid a little bit more, equal to the Prosecuting Attorney. They both run large law offices. As far as the Fire and Police Chiefs, he's okay with them having a higher pay than the other Cabinet members. They report to the commission, run large operations that are highly skilled, undergo training, and he considers them a public safety tier in itself. Mr. De Lima further commented that for the remaining positions, he supports equalizing the salaries. There's the Information Technology Director who has a small staff but has a very important job and is in the smallest tier. We get the best Page 6