Palmer mayor faces $25,000 pay cut, realignment of duties

PALMER — Sometimes it pays to be the honcho, top dog, head cheese — the mayor.

In Palmer, it will pay less should city council pass a proposed ordinance that reduces the mayor’s pay by $25,000 a year, from $45,000 to $20,000. The ordinance would also remove some duties assigned to the mayor to compensate for the reduction in pay.

Councilman Tony Pippel said he will back the ordinance at its next meeting, 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at Palmer City Hall.

Although the ordinance calls for his salary to be reduced by more than half, Palmer Mayor John Combs said the money isn’t his main concern with the ordinance.

“It’s the [reducing of] duties of mayor that’s most alarming,” Combs said.

The ordinance removes wording from the Palmer Municipal Code that establishes the mayor as spokesperson and as the ceremonial representative for the city. Combs said the new language could hinder many opportunities to speak at public gatherings, which would reduce the mayor’s ability to represent the city in a proper manner. The ordinance also limits the working relationship between the mayor and other local governments, like the Mat-Su Borough.

With a reduction of governing powers, Combs said the ordinance could cause confusion among Palmer residents when it comes to knowing how the city is managed.

“The fact is, 537 people just said they were satisfied with the way government was being run in Palmer,” he said about the recent city council election.

Councilman Pippel he says the proposed ordinace aims to return certain executive powers back into the hands of the city manager.

“I am very confident that a lot of these duties assigned to the mayor will be handled quite confidently by the new city manager,” Pippel said. Bill Allen is Palmer’s city manager.

With the decision to make the Palmer mayoral position a full-time job a few years ago came the decision to grant the mayor additional powers, Pippel said. Although the decision received some support at the time, it’s not the best option for the city today.

“I was a little uneasy with it from the get-go and have been increasingly uneasy with it since,” he said.

Pippel said the position of mayor should be a half-time commitment with the office’s main charge to be the face of local government.

Contact Chris Gillow at chris.gillow@frontiersman.com or 352-2284.