Nonunion staff to see merit raises

Council approves hike for 100-plus workers, retroactive to April 2020

After two years — and a pandemic delay — Mentor employees are eligible for wage increases.

City Council on May 4 approved merit raises for 100-plus nonunion staff.

All regular, full-time and some part-time employees may receive up to 2.5 percent increases, depending upon their performance evaluation approved by the department director and city manager.

The raises are retroactive to April 2020. The last annual wage increase was effective in April 2019.

“Normally, we do not propose nonunion wage adjustments until we have determined the safety forces wage increase resulting from contract negotiations,” Assistant City Manager Tony Zampedro said. “As last year was a protracted year for negotiations to be completed, we have only recently settled on 2020 safety force increases, in early 2021.”

All three police unions — patrol officers, sergeants and lieutenants, and dispatchers and corrections officers — received an annual 2.5 percent increase for their three-year contract period beginning in 2020.

The Fire Department received a 2.25 percent raise over the same period, which was slightly less because of other changes in their contract, Zampedro said. Their increases were retroactive as well.

Public Works and Parks union is still in

negotiation, he said.

Included in the compensation legislation were raises for the following Council employees:

• City manager, from $7,119 to $7,297 biweekly

• Council clerk, from $2,558 to $2,674 biweekly

• Law director, from $3,504 to $4,424 biweekly

• Police prosecutor, from $2,448 to $2,509 biweekly

• Assistant law director, from $2,000 to $2,050 biweekly

The total city payroll is about $24.4 million. With all union and nonunion increases for 2020, payroll could reach more than $24.8 million, Zampedro said.

The city employs nearly 500 full- and part-time people. This doesn’t include seasonal workers.