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Thursday, June 25, 2009
Pay Rule Would End Run Voters
By Dan McKay
Journal Staff Writer
Mayor Martin Chávez calls it a "sneaky way" to get pay raises for elected officials. Supporters say it's simply the fair thing to do.
Ultimately, it's a question voters may end up deciding: Whether to create a five-member salary commission that would determine how much the mayor and councilors get paid.
The City Charter says substantial pay increases for the mayor and councilors are subject to approval by voters, who have repeatedly rejected such requests for Albuquerque's elected officials.
The latest proposal for the ballot wouldn't authorize a specific pay increase. Instead, it would simply approve creation of a separate commission that would consider salaries.
A task force charged with reviewing the City Charter came up with the idea. Similar salary panels are in place in Tucson, Ariz., Atlanta and a few other cities.
David Campbell, an attorney who served on the charter task force, said the group was looking for an objective way to determine salaries. City councilors now make less than $11,000 a year, which leaves some people unable to afford a stint in office, given the time it takes away from a regular job, he said.
The mayor makes more than $100,000 a year.
The salary commission is a way to avoid the emotional reaction people have against pay raises, Campbell said. He noted the Boston Tea Party-style protests that often accompany federal pay increases.
"Our task force looked for a way to bring objectivity, data and independence to the issue — with the added benefit of fewer wasted tea bags," Campbell said.
Chávez has said the commission idea is simply an end run around the public.
"I think this commission is just a sneaky way to get pay raises for officials," Chávez said Wednesday. "You avoid public scrutiny and accountability."
The package of charter amendments hasn't yet made its way to the mayor's desk, and Chávez hasn't said whether he will sign it. City councilors approved the package earlier this week without discussing the salary issue.
The proposition is among about a dozen that could go before voters this fall. The question would ask the public to authorize a five-member "Citizens' Independent Salary Commission." The panel's membership would be selected by a separate committee that already exists — the Accountability in Government Committee, which oversees city audits and investigations.
A year before each city election, the salary commission would review salaries paid to the mayor and council before deciding whether to change them. The charter amendment doesn't say what the commission should consider in making that decision, but charter task force member Chuck Gara says one factor could be pay in other cities.
The salary commission would file a salary schedule with the city clerk. Any new salaries wouldn't apply to incumbents immediately but would take effect at the beginning of the mayor's or councilors' next term.
Commission meetings would be open to the public.
Campbell said he doesn't expect the salary commission to provide a full-time salary, just enough to more fairly compensate councilors for their time.
City Councilor Ken Sanchez, meanwhile, has pushed in the past for higher pay, but said the salary commission isn't the right way to do it.
Pay raises "should be decided by the voters of this community," he said.
But he also pointed out that county commissioners make about $30,000 a year, far higher than their city counterparts. City leaders also receive much more public scrutiny.
"I work probably twice as hard now as I did as a Bernalillo County commissioner," Sanchez said.
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