Raises for council, mayor up for vote during campaign

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, March 11, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.

City Council salaries are about to become even more of an issue in the Boulder City election.

The City Council is expected to vote on pay raises for the mayor and council on March 25, the fourth day of early voting for the primary election.

The proposed raises would mean about $6,000 a year more for each City Council member and a $7,500 annual boost for the mayor. If approved, the raises would only go to newly elected or re-elected city officials.

City Manager John Sullard said the raises would help offset the loss of $950 a month in allowances offered to each elected official for health insurance and car costs. Those allowances were eliminated by city voters in a September referendum.

Not including the health insurance and car allowances, council members are currently paid $11,202 a year and the mayor is paid $13,898 annually. Those base salaries would be the only compensation for newly elected or re-elected city officials if the salaries are not changed.

If the raises are approved, council members would be paid $17,200 annually and the mayor would receive $21,400 a year.

Mayor Bob Ferraro said now is a bad time to revive the pay-raise issue as it could hurt incumbents on the April 8 ballot. Early voting is from March 22 to April 4, and the proposed raises are on pace for a March 25 council vote.

"This has been such an issue fraught with distaste and ill feeling toward the council," Ferraro said.

But the mayor said the matter shouldn't hurt his campaign because he has promised not to accept any salary increase if re-elected, and because he has acknowledged that the council's June 2000 attempt to increase their pay mid-term was wrong. Ferraro said he will vote against the proposed pay raises.

Former Councilman Bill Smith is running for mayor against Ferraro and has led court battles and referendum efforts against raises for the mayor and council over the years. Smith also said he would not accept the proposed raise, and he said now the matter will be a campaign issue, especially if the raises are approved.

"The crazy part about it is if they pass it, it will become a campaign issue," Smith said. "I'll make it one."

Councilman Mike Pacini, the third candidate for mayor, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Councilman Bryan Nix, who is seeking re-election, said he doesn't know how he will vote on the proposed raises.

Nix said it is unfortunate city leaders and residents are spending so much time on what he considers a minor issue facing the city.

"My preference is to forget about the whole issue," Nix said.

Although the pay-raise issue has not yet surfaced in the race for two council seats, Nix said the matter has been so divisive in the past it will probably come up before the June 3 general election.

Nix said this latest proposal to increase the mayor and council members pay is probably intended to help offset the loss of $950 a month in allowances offered to each elected official for health insurance and car costs.

The monthly allowances, $500 for health insurance and $450 for car costs, were revoked by voters in a September referendum.

City Manager Sullard, who is proposing the pay-raise ordinance, said the proposed raises would essentially offset the loss of the $500 monthly stipends for health insurance.

City Attorney Dave Olsen says the sitting mayor and council members remain eligible for those two benefits until the end of their terms, although not all of the elected officials are accepting those benefits in full. A group of citizens including Smith have filed a lawsuit that is working its way through court over whether the benefits should have been stopped immediately after the referendum vote.

Councilwoman Andrea Anderson, whose term ends in two years, said she will probably vote for the raises.

"I would support a pay increase to give back the $500," she said. "It's fair to give the council some of what was lost."

Anderson hasn't been accepting any of the $950 monthly allowances since last October.

Councilman Doug Scheppmann said he doesn't know yet whether he will vote for the raises.

Scheppmann was appointed to the council to fill the unexpired term of Joe Hardy, who was elected to the State Legislature in November. Scheppmann is not seeking election to the council.