Pay for Huntsville’s elected officials likely rising
From AL.com:
The Huntsville City Council could break a 12-year pay freeze for the mayor and council under a proposal that would bump up their salaries by nearly 60 percent over four years.
City Councilwoman Sandra Moon plans to introduce an ordinance Thursday that would increase the mayor’s pay from $83,000 to $124,500, or 50 percent, effective in November. An escalator clause would raise pay by 2 percent a year for the next three years, with the mayor’s salary topping out at $132,119 for a cumulative 59 percent increase.
The city council members each earn – well, earn might be too strong a word – 25% of the mayor’s salary (the council president gets 30%).
While I do not like to see the council giving themselves and the mayor such a large percentage increase in one fail swoop I am disinclined to oppose the pay increase. For starters the council went about raising their pay in the appropriate manner. They were forthright and announced their intentions at least two months prior to voting on the issue. The raise doesn’t go into effect until after this year’s election, which means that their bosses (you and I) get to have the final say as to whether or not one cent of the increase makes it to their pockets. Moreover, both the mayor and the council members are woefully underpaid. $83k for running a city the size of Huntsville is a joke.
This pay raise is a stark contrast to the shenanigans of our august legislators in Montgomery. They courageously choose to vote themselves a 62% pay raise – effective immediately – as one of their first, and only, accomplishments of the very first regular session in the first year of their four year terms. They – they being the Democrats - tried to ram the measure through in secret. Not one of them mentioned the pay increase in the preceding months while they were campaigning. The money wasn’t even the issue in that case. It was the attempted deception and unmitigated gall.
Dale Jackson, Huntsville’s morning show host on WVNN, offered up what I believe are rather specious arguments against the pay raise. He suggested that the members who vote for the pay increase should never be eligible to receive it, even if they were to be re-elected to numerous terms. That would only make the council compensation a boondoggle with many members possibly receiving different pay. Waiting until after an election for the pay increase to take effect is reasonable and lets the public make the ultimate decision. Let them vote to raise their pay and give potential adversaries some juicy campaign fodder.
Worse yet he argued that market forces indicate that the current pay is reasonable because the positions are not vacant. You would be hard pressed to find a more ardent supporter of unabashed free markets than me, but free market theory is not directly applicable here.
Free market pricing theory dictates that you ideally price items such that you couldn’t have sold all of your inventory if the price was any higher while your inventory was sufficient to satisfy all demand. Theoretically you could set the salary to zero (or maybe even make people pay) because I bet you could find enough wealthy individuals in Huntsville who will fill the positions either because they enjoy the power or because they could use the positions to further their private investments (judicious annexing or development of infrastructure near their property, for example). This does not fulfill the best interests of the public, though because simply filling critical elected positions with those who have the financial wherewithal to work for little or nothing without regard to qualifications will not yield the best government. I would prefer for the salaries to be sufficiently high, not obscene, so that they draw in talented, qualified people who would like to serve the public, but cannot do so if it means financial hardship. We’re all better off if we are able to select from a broad slate of candidates, not a select few.
The Times article also stated that Superintendent Ann Roy Moore makes $190,000 a year. No wonder they need money! We’re paying her a king’s ransom so that she can operate our schools at just over half capacity while having the temerity to demand additional funds to build more schools.
Just a slight clarification, I said there are people that want these jobs meaning obviously the pay is not to low. 8 ran for mayor last time according to Watson, yes one may “live under a bridge,” but the pay is not keeping people away.
And the most serious challenger to Spencer last time, Parker Griffith, is independently wealthy. As you pointed out at least one lives “under a bridge” and another can charitably be called a gadfly who runs every time and has no chance of winning. I’ll put it this way – there are A LOT of people in Huntsville who make more than $83k and wouldn’t leave their jobs to run for mayor despite their desire and/or qualifications.
I agree with Glenn Watson that it is absurd for the mayor to make far less – less than half in at least one case – than subordinates with less responsibility. I do not, however, agree with his “it’s not fair” rationale. That is what eight year olds say when they don’t get their way.
190K for Moore… yeah let’s raise our property taxes.
Anyone see Dale on TV at the immigration rally with a 20 ft flagpole on his shoulder?
I wrote about this this morning re The Times editorial in favor. I don’t see any of the incumbents quitting because the work is too hard for the pay, I think the Mayor has raised several hundred thousand to run again. I argue higher salary would just attract a higher order of hack.
I appreciate the opinions of each person who responded to this issue. I was a Huntsville Police Officer in the 80,s completing the police training and was sworn in and bonded by the state of Alabama. I voluntered and recieved no pay. Like my city Council position; I loved both jobs. I will never see the pay raise since I am running for the County Commission and will work hard to win. I am your servant Councilman Glenn Watson