Panel mulls change in pay for mayor, council

Charter Review Committee also suggests attorney should report to city leaders, not administrator

The Yuma City Charter Review Committee is considering recommending a change to the way the mayor and council members are compensated and who the city attorney answers to.

During the Nov. 12 meeting, the committee reviewed Article 6, Section 14, which sets the compensation for the mayor at $12,000 a year and $3,600 a year for each council member, as last approved by voters in 1996.

Chairman Russ Clark noted that the issue has come up quite a bit since then, but voters have turned down increasing the compensation. But the majority of committee members agreed that it’s time to adjust the figures.

The last time the issue went before voters was in 2011; voters were asked to increase the pay for the mayor to $24,000 and $12,000 for council members.

“We had the wrong elected officials, that’s why I think it failed,” Clark said.

“We have good candidates, but we could draw more if there was better pay,” Art Morales said.

“I have respect for these people. Why would you do it for 3,600 a year?” Jeff Poltson asked.

WHAT OTHER CITIES PAY

According to a handout provided to the committee, compensation for mayors and council members across the state varies significantly. In some communities, mostly in rural

areas, these officials do not get any compensation, while Phoenix tops the list with $88,000 for the mayor and $61,600 for the council members.

Generally, the larger the population, the larger the compensation. With 95,502 residents, Yuma is 11th on the list in population, although it’s widely expected that next year’s census will put the figure above 100,000.

Among the top 20 cities in the state according to population, Yuma’s compensation is the lowest, right below Prescott Valley, which has a population of 44,466 and pays its mayor $12,600 and its council members $8,400. Avondale, whose population is most comparable to Yuma, pays its mayor $18,250 and its councilors $9,125.

In Yuma County, San Luis, with a population of 32,446, pays its mayor $21,000 and its councilors $10,800. Somerton, with a population of 16,120, compensates its mayor with $8,400 and its councilors with $6,000. Wellton, with a population of 2,989, compensates its mayor with $4,200 and its councilors with $3,000.

BASED ON COUNTY SUPERVISOR PAY

An idea that seemed acceptable to most of the committee members is changing the compensation figures set in the charter from fixed dollar amounts to percentages based on the pay given to county supervisors, which is set by the state Legislature. Currently, Yuma County supervisors are paid $63,800 a year.

This way, if the Legislature gives the supervisors a raise, then the mayor and council will automatically get a raise, without having to change the charter.

Barbara Hengl noted that by tying it to the supervisor pay, the compensation is constantly moving, “At this point, any kind of progression forward would bring us into this century,” she said.

The committee members also noted that a percentage might be more acceptable to voters and less shocking than presenting a larger dollar amount.

Russell McCloud, who also serves as a county supervisor, noted that Yuma has had a lot of “growing up” in recent years and that the compensation does not match what is required to run a $225 million operation.

Polston suggested somewhere between 60%-80% of the county supervisor salary and half of that for council members.

OBJECTIONS AND CHALLENGES

The committee considered possible objections to raising the compensation. “No matter what, someone’s going to be upset,” Hengl said.

Polston pointed out that some citizens might argue that police and fire personnel aren’t getting enough money and question where the additional money would come from.

Another challenge they noted is setting the start date for the new compensation since the elections are staggered and it wouldn’t be fair for some council members to receive higher compensation than others.

Legally, McCloud said, an elected official’s salary can’t be raised midterm. Polston noted that they could vote on the recommendation and then have the legal team bring back more information on an appropriate start date.

After debating different percentages, Bill Regenhardt then made a motion recommending that the mayor receive compensation equal to 60% of the compensation provided to Yuma County supervisors and each council member receives compensation of 30% of the compensation provided to the supervisors. This would mean an additional cost of almost $120,000 a year in total compensation.

The committee approved the motion with a 8-1 vote, with Doug Jennings voting against it.

BENEFITS

The committee also briefly touched on benefits. After being questioned, Rodney Short noted that this issue is covered by federal law and the Affordable Care Act considers elected officials city employees.

“You’re either an employee or a contractor, and if you work more than 38 hours, the city is required to provide benefits,” Short said.

And if someone doesn’t punch the clock, such as council members, they’re going to be considered fulltime employees, he added.

WHOM DOES THE CITY ATTORNEY SERVE?

The city charter notes that the administrator appoints the city attorney with council approval and serves as the chief legal advisor to the council, administrator and all city departments, offices and agencies.

And while it states that the council has control of all litigation of the city, it also states that “the city attorney shall serve at the pleasure of the city administrator.”

Polston questioned whether it’s appropriate that the city attorney serve at the pleasure of the administrator. He noted that if there’s a conflict, the attorney could be fired by the administrator.

In that case, Clark said, the administrator would still need to answer to the administrator. If the administrator fired the city attorney and the council didn’t agree, that would probably be the administrator’s last act, McCloud noted.

Short pointed out that the majority of city attorneys in the state serve their mayor and city council. But whatever the charter says, ethical rules say that city attorneys have eight clients, the members of the council and the city. Changing the language in the charter would not change the job, he added.

McCloud noted that it might be wise to follow what the majority of cities are doing. Clark said he also would be in favor of changing the charter to indicate that the city attorney serves at the pleasure of the mayor and council. The committee unanimously approved the recommendation.

The committee normally meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Earlier this year, the council requested a review of the charter to determine if updates and/or changes are necessary. The committee will present proposed amendments to the council in a public meeting and the recommendations may be placed on the ballot of the next scheduled city election.

To read the charter, go to https://bit.ly/2xhTUlB and click on “view code.” The charter will be listed towards the top on the lefthand side.