Friday, Oct. 11, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.
Two weeks after Boulder City residents voted to cut elected officials' pay, Councilman Joe Hardy quietly signed paperwork declining future payments of $950 in monthly auto and medical benefits.
Hardy, who is running for the Assembly, is the first council member to comply with an initiative overwhelmingly approved by voters Sept. 3 that stripped Boulder City elected officials of about $11,200 annually in auto and health benefits.
The rest of the City Council is awaiting an opinion from the attorney general's office that was requested shortly after the election by Boulder City Attorney Dave Olsen. That opinion is expected within a month.
Jim Spencer, senior deputy attorney general, has to decide whether state law dictates that the amendment to the Boulder City Charter is effective immediately, as proponents of the initiative argue, or whether council members' pay should be grandfathered through the end of their terms.
For council members Mike Pacini and Andrea Anderson, who were elected in 2001, close to three years in benefits, or about $30,000, is at stake.
The pay issue have been bitterly fought since June 2000, when the council approved raises that would have gone into effect for three members before they had to stand for re-election.
Mid-term raises were without precedent in Boulder City and are prohibited by law elsewhere in the state. An initiative vote led by then-Councilman Bill Smith eventually killed the raises.
The latest vote, also led by Smith, went further, eliminating all but council members' base pay of $11,000 per year. That is less than a third of the pay officials in Henderson, North Las Vegas and Las Vegas receive. Elected officials in those cities receive similar monthly auto and health benefits.
Hardy, who is a doctor, said he made the decision to follow the voters' decision now because he can afford to and because it is less a moral issue than an issue of timing.
"But we don't want to become a community where we can only have rich retired people on the City Council," Hardy said. "I don't think that's a good move. This job takes time and money, from my family and my practice."
Smith argues that though salaries may be protected by state law for a given term, benefits are not.
For example, the City Council approved the last increase in monthly auto benefits on July 13, 1999, and the increase from $325 to $450 was effective retroactive to July 1, 1999.
"If they can give themselves an increase in benefits during their term, then the electorate certainly has the right to take their benefits away during their term," Smith said.
Anderson and Mayor Bob Ferraro both said they will continue accepting benefits until the attorney general's office issues a decision. Pacini did not return a call for comment.
Councilman Bryan Nix asked who is hurt if he receives a monthly mileage payment.
"Does Bill Smith think he's going to save himself enough money to buy a couple cheeseburgers?" Nix asked.
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