The Marthasville Board of Aldermen has voted to approve a pay raise for the city’s mayor, with one alderman opposing the change while three voted in favor.
The mayor’s pay will …
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The Marthasville Board of Aldermen has voted to approve a pay raise for the city’s mayor, with one alderman opposing the change while three voted in favor.
The mayor’s pay will increase from $500 per month to $700 under an ordinance approved on Feb. 15. That adds up to a total pay increase of $2,400 per year, and a total salary of $8,400.
The pay raise will not take effect until May 1, which is after this year’s city elections on April 4.
The ordinance also authorizes the purchase of a cell phone for use by the mayor to conduct official city business.
Alderman Leo Meyer advocated for the pay increase, saying that Mayor David Lange has provided substantial administrative services for the city, including overseeing the city’s clerical and public works staff, as well as personally coordinating numerous public works projects.
Compared to the amount of work he puts in, Lange’s pay is very little, and the proposed pay increase is much less than the amount that the mayor has saved Marthasville by acting as a full-time city administrator, Meyer argued.
“The mayor’s duties have definitely increased in the last eight to 10 years,” Meyer said. “Just look at the projects we’ve had. There’s so much more he has to do. ... $8,400 for salary is not out of line, in my opinion.”
Alderman Christopher DeVore was the sole opponent of the pay raise, arguing that the mayor’s pay has already increased several times in recent years.
In an email sent before the Feb. 15 meeting to the other three aldermen, but not to the mayor, DeVore expressed his concern by documenting several recent pay increases for the mayor and aldermen:
“Compared to the mayor’s salary in 2015 of $1,500 per year to the proposed $8400 per year starting in 2023 ... that’s a proposed 460-percent increase,” DeVore said in the email. “Keep in mind you are voting on the position, not the individual. ... If we have extra money, we should be using that money much more wisely to hire more high quality employees or for needed projects.”
Alderman Meyer addressed that email in person at the Feb. 14 meeting, saying that it’s a little misleading to focus on percentages to describe the scale of the pay increase. Because pay for elected officials is so low, even a small amount of money looks like a large percentage, Meyer said.
“In terms of real money, what we’re talking about is very little — $2,400 a year,” Meyer said.
Three votes from the board of aldermen were necessary to approve the pay increase. After aldermen split a prior vote in January 2-1, the deciding vote came down to Alderman Nick Lange, the son of Mayor David Lange. Prior to expressing his approval, the alderman carefully worded his support in terms of the official duties of the mayor.
“Right now we’re fortunate to have an active mayor that does act as a city administrator, public works director, city engineer. We may not have that five or 10 years from now, and we may have to re-evaluate at that time,” Alderman Lange said. “It will be up to the board in the future to try to hold a different mayor in that seat to the same standards that we’re fortunate to have today.”
Mayor Lange also spoke as his own advocate, saying that the proposed pay reflects the necessity of having someone to manage the city’s business in the absence of a paid city administrator.
“This town is going to need a city manager or city administrator at some point. And at that point, the board needs to decide what that administrator is worth, and what the mayor is worth,” Lange said. “If at that time all the mayor does is show up and run the meetings, and he doesn’t do anything else, then I would say you lower the mayor’s salary and use that money towards paying a city manager.”
Aldermen Lange, Meyer, and Gary Dixon voted to approve the mayor’s pay raise. Alderman DeVore voted against.
