News

Council approves 33 percent raise for mayor Councilors delay vote on granting raises for themselves

By Katie Farrell
Staff writer
Published: May 14, 2008

AMESBURY — The next mayor of Amesbury will have a much bigger paycheck.

The Municipal Council agreed last night to give the town's top executive a salary boost. Starting in January, 2010, the mayor will make $80,000.

The mayor now makes $60,000.

The council held a public hearing on the issue last month while serving as its Finance Committee and after discussion, agreed to accept the figure.

"For me, it boils down to what is this job really worth," said District 4 Councilor Bob Lavoie, the sponsor of the measure. "How much sacrifice can (the townspeople) fairly expect ... our elected mayor to make?"

Currently, Amesbury has the lowest salary for a mayor in the Merrimack Valley. Newburyport Mayor John Moak makes slightly more: $65,000.

The pay raise will not take effect until after the next election.

District 6 Councilor Jonathan Sherwood said he believed the measure was a way for councilors to contribute to ensuring that qualified candidates with strong skill sets run for the top office.

During next campaign season, candidates will know how much the salary is, at-large Councilor Allen Neale agreed. With a "low entrance fee," Amesbury is preventing candidates from running, he said.

Council President Roger Benson refuted claims he's heard that categorize the mayor as "a figurehead."

In Amesbury, the mayor "is upstairs running this community day in and day out," Benson said.

The mayor's salary has been raised only once — in 2001 — since the town adopted its city form of government in 1996. It was increased from $50,000 to the present $60,000.

District 2 Councilor Mary Chatigny, who voiced her opposition to a $90,000 raise at the Finance Committee meeting, reaffirmed last night that she's not against some sort of increase, but she disagrees with the methodology councilors are using.

"You can make the numbers say anything you want," she said.

Chatigny said she takes issue with councilors comparing a mayor and a town manager — one is elected and the other appointed, she said.

"Anybody can run for mayor," she said.

The motion to increase the mayor's salary passed 7-1.Voting in favor were Councilors Sherwood, Joe McMilleon, Bob Gilday, Benson, Lavoie, Anne Ferguson and Neale. Voting against was Chatigny. Absent from the meeting was Stephen Dunford.

Pay raise delayed

Councilors continued a discussion on whether to increase the council stipend from $1,200 to $3,000 a year with $4,000 for the council president until the next meeting. With Dunford absent from the meetings, councilors said they believed he should be present for the vote.

An order to increase the councilors' stipends must pass with a four-fifths vote of the council, so last night only one councilor voting against it would have defeated the measure.

McMilleon, who served on the council from 2003 to 2005, called the increase "more of an issue of fairness than anything else."

Councilors aren't making money but spending it, he said.

"No one's making money; it's costing (us) to serve," he said.

Serving as a councilor results in taking time off work to attend functions and events, Neale said. The current stipend isn't adequate to cover those lost wages, he said.

Sherwood said the stipend would need to rise to a "significant level" before it could be considered an incentive for candidates to run for office, he said.

"I don't feel this is necessary in the same way as the mayor's salary was," he said.

Chatigny said she views the stipend as "a bonus." Other residents volunteer time and commitment to serving on boards and committees, she said, with no compensation.

Councilors should be serving "out of the goodness of our hearts," she said.

GOVERNMENT AT A GLANCE

Municipal Council

May 13, 2008

APPROVED

r appointment of Kristin LaRue as veterans' agent

r appointment of Robert Desmarais as DPW director

r resolution to authorize mayor to sign the authorization and agreement to begin codification of town ordinances

r order to increase mayor's salary to $80,000 beginning Jan. 1, 2010

CONTINUED

r order to increase councilor stipends to $3,000 and president stipend to $4,000

REFERRED TO FINANCE COMMITTEE

r Fiscal Year 2009 budget

r request to surplus municipal vehicles

r order to accept a grant from the Newburyport Five Cent Charitable Foundation

r an order to accept a grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety

r transfer requests

REFERRED TO AUDIT COMMITTEE

r Fiscal Year 2008 audit