Little Rock approves raise for city attorney

Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter will receive a 1.5 percent raise, matching that given to the city manager earlier this year.

With the increase, which is retroactive to January, Carpenter now makes $149,000 — up from his previous $146,798 salary.

The Little Rock Board of Directors voted to give the city attorney a raise after spending about an hour and a half in closed executive session questioning Carpenter and evaluating him Tuesday.

His annual evaluation was originally set for February but, after meeting with him, city directors had some concerns and asked him to come back with answers to several questions, which they didn’t disclose publicly.

“We had asked Mr. Carpenter earlier to address two or three issues that we had questions about, and we visited with him and he has provided us with that updated information,” Mayor Mark Stodola announced Tuesday night after the board returned from its executive session.

The motion to give Carpenter a 1.5 percent raise and a motion to increase his car allowance from $400 per month to $600 per month were unanimously approved by the 10-member board.

Carpenter’s monthly car allowance hadn’t been increased in at least two decades, he said. It is now on par with what City Manager Bruce Moore receives, as well as what department heads get.

Moore was praised by the board after his Feb. 7 evaluation and given a 1.5 percent raise, increasing his pay retroactively to $189,240 for 2017.

The city attorney and city manager are the only two employees who answer directly to the board. They are evaluated yearly.