Palmer pares mayor’s office

Frontiersman

PALMER — Employing a full-time mayor is an experiment that hasn’t worked, Palmer City Council said Tuesday in voting unanimously to trim the position back to part time. The move includes a cut in pay from $45,000 annually to $24,000.

Mayor John Combs was gracious and seemingly in good spirits as the council debated the future of his office. Combs turned his gavel over to Councilman Ken Erbey, noting it wouldn’t be appropriate to be part of the council discussion. Instead, he sat with a smile among the crowd of Palmer residents in attendance.

Council upgraded the office of mayor to full-time in 2005 and increased mayoral duties in the hopes of increasing the city’s lobbying efforts and winning grants, Councilman Tony Pippel said. It didn’t work out as planned.

“The change in the mayor’s duties was an ad hoc solution to a set of perceived problems,” Pippel said, adding Palmer’s city manager, Bill Allen, handles most of the heavy lifting of running city government.

Palmer will still have a full-time mayor for nearly a year, as reining in the position won’t take effect until after the next municipal election in 2008. At that time, Combs, whose term expires in 2010, will still be mayor part time.

Although the ordinance passed unanimously, it required more than a swift and simple discussion.

Jo Weller, a Palmer resident, said voters last month re-elected Combs believing he would be a full-time mayor and that the time to make this change was before this most recent election when the office was on the ballot.

“The timing is really poor,” Weller said. “We don’t follow an election with a change in job description and a cut in pay.”

Along with public opposition, Councilman Richard Best and Councilwoman Kathrine Vanover voiced similar concerns prior to Tuesday’s vote.

It wouldn’t be fair or appropriate to make the change effective immediately, Best said, adding that if the move is necessary it should take place after the mayor’s current term.

Councilman Mike Chmielewski said having a full-time mayor and a full-time city manager is an usual situation that doesn’t follow the system outlined in the city’s charter. According to the charter, Palmer is governed by a council-manager form of government that establishes the city manager as the chief administrator who carries out executive and administrative duties.

“At the present time I don’t think we can sustain what we are doing,” Chmielewski said. He proposed the amendments that cut the pay by $21,000 instead of the previously proposed $25,000 and postponing the change until 2008.

Although Combs will eventually face a $21,000 pay cut and reduction in responsibilities, he said he plans to continue working hard for the city.

“I’m not perfect by any means, but I strive to do the best job that I possibly can,” Combs said, adding his next goal is to establish a better a line of communication among city officials.

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