It has been 14 years since the Mesa mayor and City Council have received pay raises.
After 45 years of the city charter and just two raises during that time, in the nation’s 38th-largest city, council members earn about $19,000 per year, and the mayor, about $38,600 — their salaries set in 1998, plus cost-of-living adjustments.
On Monday, the City Council considered whether to accept a commission’s Nov. 8 recommendation to nearly double the salaries of each office, sending the council members’ salaries to $35,209 and the mayor’s to $70,304. The city charter requires the council to decide its own pay.
When the smoke cleared, the council voted 4-3 against taking the raises.
Mayor Scott Smith, who supported the increase, acknowledged that it was “awkward” to vote for his own pay raise.
“I don’t believe this is a difficult situation — for me, it’s not — but it certainly is an awkward situation,” Smith said.
The council created the Independent Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials in August to research and make a recommendation on potential pay raises. The council’s vote was whether to accept the report which included enacting the recommended raises.
Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh spoke to the Tribune prior to Monday’s meeting, pointing out that the Mesa salaries rank below Arizona cities Peoria, Glendale, Tempe and several other cities nationally that are smaller than Mesa.
“I don’t know of any other job in the public or private sector that’s only had two pay increases over the last 45 years,” Kavanaugh said.
The raises would have made salaries higher than Tempe but still lower than Phoenix.
“People have realized that the city has grown and the job has changed throughout the years ... I look at it as council work is a 24/7 job.”
Kavanaugh, who is a lawyer on top of his council position, said he spends more time on city work.
“Eighty percent of the emails I get during the day is all city related. I can’t get through the grocery store without talking to constituents,” Kavanaugh said.
Supporters said the raises will increase the competition for city offices because too many people cannot afford the low pay.
They pointed out that council members have been running unopposed since 2006.
Supporters also touted the council’s drastic cuts to Mesa’s budget during the economic downturn, and that pay cuts have been restored and raises reinstated.
Bryan Jeffries, president of United Mesa Fire Fighters and a former Phoenix city councilman, said, “Being a part-time council member to close to half-a-million (population) city is just nonsense ... the commitment ... is not part-time,” Jeffries said.
Mesa resident Tom Schuelke said the commission was not independent because it was appointed by the council.
Schuelke also said the recommended increases would attract greedy candidates.
“A large increase in council compensation may result in the wrong kind of people seeking office, people more interested in money than serving the city ... it will discourage competent, civic-minded individuals from seeking to serve.”
Supporters of the raises disputed that they would limit candidates and countered that the raises would open up the fields.
Vice Mayor Scott Somers said that being on the council is about civic pride and civic duty.
He said that he wants to see future councils make more money and agreed it would increase the number of potential candidates, but asked the council to find a way “to implement this in the future so that I’m not voting for my own raise ... I ran knowing that I was only making $18,000 a year.”
Smith challenged there was no way for the council to not decide its own pay because staggered elections mean some council members would have to do so.
Councilwoman Dina Higgins also spoke against the measure, saying that residents of the city are still facing a tough economy with 15,000 in Mesa still out of work and others facing losing their homes.
“I’m receiving $19,000 in salaries, plus an additional $17,000 in (medical and pension) benefits. Together ... this is a fair salary for a part-time job. I would never want to see someone run for office based solely on salary.”
Smith, Kavanaugh and Councilman Dave Richins voted for the raises.
• Contact writer: (480) 898-5647 or dquigley@evtrib.com
downtownresident posted at 8:50 pm on Tue, Dec 11, 2012.
These people need to have a raise!
ivotetoo posted at 8:50 pm on Tue, Dec 11, 2012.
Maybe they should have compared figures using other communities such as Chandler, and Gilbert, who make less than Mesa, as opposed to communities that get a higher pay. Convenient for politicians to pick those with higher pay for themselves but not for their employees. Do Mesa employees make more than Tempe, and Phoenix- NO!
FedUp posted at 2:41 pm on Wed, Dec 12, 2012.
Let me tell you all what happens when they decide to go full-time since I have been through this back home. Our Mayor was full-time and our council was part-time with less than the population Mesa has today - this all started by a LAWYER who whined and complained just like this one that he could not get all his work as a council person done in one day - maybe he should have quit his lawyer job and just done his council job and he would have had lots of time - anyway - this lawyer that was on our council and the Mayor decided ALL BY THEMSELVES since we have such a democratic country that they never even took it to a vote - because we had this whiny lawyer - and they started working full-time. Then they decided that now that they were working full time they needed to be paid for full-time work and gave themselves a 45% wage increase - the first time - two years later they decided that they still did not make enough so they gave themselves another 35% wage increase and they still were not done. A couple of years later they whined that council people in the east made more money then them AND that more money would encouraged the HIGH PAID lawyers and the RIGHT KIND OF PEOPLE to run for office so they gave themselves another 35% wage increase, 20% of their government savings account is tax free and other benefits now to. Today they set their own wages which are Mayor around $200,000.00 a year plus benefits and council people get around $170,000.00 a year plus benefits and they probably give themselves even more when they go to meetings since they figure they deserve that to (we are just finding out about being paid extra for meetings even though that is part of their jobs) so go ahead and vote on these people working full-time and then if the same thing happens to you then you were at least warned. Politics is supposed to be a "civic" responsibility but our politicians have turned it into full-time jobs and rarely leave because they LOVE the MONEY THEY GET NOW. oh, and now they refuse to listen to the taxpayer as well telling us all that we do not know what we need but they do. how democratic of them huh?
FedUp posted at 2:47 pm on Wed, Dec 12, 2012.
What I forgot to mention to that even though we now pay these people what we taxpayers feel is way to much money but we can't stop them, is that we never did get the RIGHT KIND OF PEOPLE. All we got were GREEDY SPENDTHRIFTS who can't seem to figure out what projects are a necessity and which ones should wait until the city has more money so now they are borrowing to build the Light Rail Transit, a brand new art gallery, a new zoo, and other non-essentials to the people and our house taxes are skyrocketing each and every year. Greed does attract all those who have no money sense and could care whose money they spend.
CrazyOne posted at 9:58 pm on Wed, Dec 12, 2012.
The mayor and council should at least get their salary increased to equate to 2012 dollars. By not getting a raise in 14 years they making less than their predecessors as they get no adjustments for inflation. From what I observe, they are more than earning their pay and deserve raises.
CrazyOne posted at 10:19 pm on Wed, Dec 12, 2012.
I need to learn to read. They are already adjusted for inflation. [whistling]
downtownresident posted at 4:13 pm on Thu, Dec 13, 2012.
After doing a little snooping, I found out that the mayor and council get more than a salary.
Free 7th floor office.
Free staff.
Phone allowance.
Car allowance.
I'd really like to know what the cost of having a mayor and council is!