URBANA FORMS COMMISSION TO SET OFFICIALS’ SALARIES
New 5-member group’s goal: ‘De-politicize the compensation process.’
A salary commission created by an Urbana charter amendment to determine the salaries for the mayor and city council members has been formed, the mayor said.
The salary commission consists of five people, one from each of the four wards in the city and one at-large, who are responsible for establishing the salaries for the mayor and for the council members, said Mayor Bill Bean.
“The rationale behind the formation of the commission is to de-politicize the compensation process for elected officials,” he said.
Commission members are appointed by the mayor and cannot be a council member,
city employee or immediate family members. Membership on the commission is voluntary unpaid position, Bean said.
“We are fortunate enough to already have our five members in place,” he said.
The next step will be an organizational meeting where a commission chairperson will be elected. They will also likely decide the criteria by which it will determine appropriate salaries, decide when and how often to meet and set whatever procedural rules in place that are necessary.
“The commission is self-governing in the sense that it is empowered with the authority to set its own rules for the process,” Bean said.
The five members of the salary commission and the wards they represent are:
■ Michelle Heflin: 1st ward
■ Amy Waldren: 2nd ward
■ Jeramiah Stocksdale: 3rd ward
■ Stephanie Truelove: 4th ward
■ Wayne Smith: at-large
Contact this reporter at 937610-7310 or email brooke. spurlock@coxinc.com.