Assembly votes to increase pay for borough mayor

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly passed an ordinance to increase the salary of the Mayor which will likely go before the Assembly again for reconsideration.

Assemblyman George McKee sponsored Ordinance 21-040 which would raise the salary of the Mayor from $29,975 to $50,000 and argued in support, claiming that a better compensated Mayor would bring greater economic development to the Borough. The changes in OR 21-040 would be made effective July 1 unless action is taken to change the legislation.

“An elected mayor has stature with private industry, has stature with the legislature, so we really have short changed the mayor and we haven’t given him the money to get out and do that. Now as a companion to this, I’m also will be introducing down stream here $10,000 as an expense account. I want to see the borough get something besides what we have right now and I think the elected mayor is the only person that can do that,” said McKee. “I’m not trying to raise the Mayor into any astronomical salary, I simply want to give him the money to go out and market the borough, that’s the only thing I care about that’s the only reason why I introduced this.That’s it, folks.”

Prior to a motion being made to bring OR 21-040 onto the floor, Mayor Vern Halter recused himself from the discussion and subsequent vote, allowing Deputy Mayor Tam Boeve to chair the meeting. McKee argued that since a position for economic development was cut from borough staff, the Mayor’s duties should include marketing the Borough and McKee argued that an increase in pay would help accomplish that. McKee also said that economic development in the borough had been poor during his five years on the Assembly.

“I would say there’s a lot of thriving economic development in the borough. From our airframes business that’s over in Palmer to the agriculture, and at any time we can do things as a borough to help that industry out. That might be lowering energy costs, it might be lowering health care costs, it might be recruiting businesses, but I think it’s an overstatement to say everything the borough has done has resulted in failed economic development and there’s a lot of ways to come at that issue,” said Assemblywoman Stephanie Nowers. “I don’t think that there’s anything that you’re talking about doing that he can’t do right now and that people at the borough can’t do right now or that we couldn’t prioritize more but I don’t think raising a salary 20,000 and adding 10,000 is going to. I don’t think that’s going to make a difference.”

Assemblyman Jesse Sumner pointed out early on in the debate that McKee also seemed to be adding duties to the Mayoral office with his proposed pay raise. McKee and Nowers questioned each other back and forth, with Nowers questioning if the desired economic development would be caused by paying the mayor an increased salary. Sumner made the first amendment on OR 21-040 to increase the salary from $50,000 to $100,000, which was questioned by McKee.

“If you believe that increasing the salary from 29,000 whatever to 50k is suddenly going to attract you a rockstar mayor then I’m not sure that that is the case but, you could at least make the job an attractive one if that is the intent. Otherwise I think you’ll get the same people for 29,000 that you’ll get for 50,” said Sumner. “The difference between 29 and 50,000, you’re not really getting much and there’s nothing wrong with folks that are retired being mayor but that’s really the only kind of person that will be able to run for mayor if you don’t pay what I would consider a decent salary.”

McKee moved a secondary amendment on Sumner’s additional increase of $50,000 to lower the salary back down to $80,000. McKee and Sumner’s amendments both failed 4-3 with Sumner, McKee and Tew voting in support. After both amendments failed, Sumner moved a second amendment to increase the pay to $90,000, which also failed along the same 4-3 line with Deputy Mayor Boeve, Nowers, and Assemblymen Tim Hale and Rob Yundt voting in opposition of each amendment.

“For me there’s a strong component of public service to the job and the mayor should be promoting, but you’re not going to be able to, who holds a mayor’s feet to the fire? it’s the voters. So paying them more, I don’t see how 20,000, 50,000 is going to get us anything more. It’s just that money out of the taxpayers pocket,” said Nowers.

When the time came to vote on the main ordinance, 21-040 passed without any added amendments 4-3. Assemblymen Sumner and Hale voted with Nowers in opposition and Boeve, McKee, Tew and Yundt voted in favor of the main motion on the ordinance.

Following the conclusion of the rest of the Assembly business at the Tuesday meeting, Yundt confessed that he had made a freshman mistake.

“I thought we were voting to keep the whole conversation alive earlier and not to accept or pass George’s thing so I will be bringing this up for reconsideration,” said Yundt. “I also do firmly believe somebody should be paid well enough to do it full time and to be out singing our praises in Juneau and different places and bringing in economic activity.”

The Assembly held a special meeting for budget deliberations at Su Valley High School in Talkeetna on Thursday and has another pair of budget hearings scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday of this week. The next regular meeting scheduled is May 18.