Pittsfield Charter Panel Defers Pay for Elected Officials
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — While recognizing it is a noble suggestion, the Charter Review Commission feels pay raises for elected officials are an ordinance or budgetary discussion.
The commission last week motioned to thank city councilors for bringing pay raises to their attention but communicate it is better suited for the city code and ordinary course — not the city charter.
Section 2.4 of the charter states that city councilors receive compensation set by an ordinance and an ordinance increasing to reducing pay is not effective unless adopted by a two-thirds vote.
"I really want to keep the charter pristine. And believe me, I have no opinion about the level of compensation," Chair Michael McCarthy said.
"City councilors and the School Committee members put in an awful lot of work for a minimal amount of money. It’s virtually volunteer work. That's the way it ends up."
The Ordinances and Rules subcommittee referred Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren and Ward 4 Councilor James Conant’s request to increase the compensation of the School Committee members.
There were budgetary concerns and a wish to look at the request with a more holistic lens that doesn’t just apply to the School Committee, whose members are paid $4,000 per year. City councilors are paid $8,000 a year and the president makes $10,000, the last raise occurring in 1994.
"There was a lengthy discussion and the group as a whole, I would say, felt uncomfortable voting on it at this time," Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi explained, adding that a few councilors suggested that the conversation be taken outside of the body and it was referred to the Charter Review Commission.
Some School Committee members even declined the proposal.
"Although I am grateful for the councilors' support for increased compensation for School Committee members, I note that the resolution mentions that this has not been amended this some since the new charter was put into force about a decade ago, I believe that as a member of the School Committee, I believe that given the circumstances with municipal finance and given the demands of the Pittsfield Public Schools on the city's budget, that we would be better not increasing the compensation for school committee members," Chair William Cameron said during the subcommittee meeting last week.
Mayor Peter Marchetti had suggested looking into a regular, systematic increase similar to cost of living adjustments. This would also appear in the ordinance rather than the charter.
"I’m not sure if it fits on the charter side of things," Director of Administrative Services and Public Information Officer Catherine Van Bramer said last week, explaining that the ordinance dictates things like COL increases and benefits.
Lampiasi suggested that regularly scheduled pay reviews could be one way of keeping politics out of the conversation. While the pay raises would not be enacted this term, there was some hesitancy.
"That's part of the problem that the debate or the discussion encountered the other day," she explained.
"It’s kind of uncharted territory, whereas, regardless of if the group's voting for themselves or others, it feels like a genuine conversation that should be happening but as the body responsible for doing that, it doesn't feel ethical to be doing it without being told to do it."
She noted that the recent news coverage of the school system, eluding to the staff scandal at PHS, adds another layer to the discussion.
"The recent news coverage of our school system makes it difficult to have that conversation and for it to not feel political when it has just now come up," Lampiasi said.
"You may not agree with that being a reason to do this, but I do think that that's a way to avoid such conversations from being political."
Tags: charter review,
