Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON COUNCIL PAY IN SPECIAL MEETING ON OCTOBER 31, 2017 AT 10:00 A.M., ROOM 236, 90 EAST CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Jenn Daniels, Councilmembers Jordan Ray and Jared Taylor. STAFF PRESENT: Town Clerk Lisa Maxwell, Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck, Special Counsel Andrew McGuire CALL TO ORDER OF SPECIAL MEETING Mayor Jenn Daniels called the meeting to order at 10:14 a.m. ADGENDA ITEMS 1. Discussion including review of how Council pay is set and of possible changes to that process. Special Counsel Andrew McGuire said staff gathered information from other municipalities on how they set their Council’s salaries and only two ways would abide by the Arizona Constitution, setting a fixed salary or tying the salary to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Whatever method is selected would not take effect until a new Council is seated. Councilmember Jordan Ray asked if Council salaries could be tied to staff salary increases. Special Counsel Andrew McGuire said it was possible but not the best way. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she does not like the CPI method since staff raises are not calculated that way. It could be possible for staff salaries to be frozen and for Council could get raise. Councilmember Jordan Ray said he would like to go back to requiring a Council vote to increase Council salaries. It would be simpler and more transparent. Special Counsel Andrew McGuire asked if the salary would remain the same as it is now or whether there should be an adjustment in two years. Mayor Jenn Daniels said Council pay had gotten out of whack and she wondered what the appropriate salary should be. Councilmember Jordan Ray said he would like to keep the salary where it is currently. Council can then vote next time they wish to raise Council pay. Mayor Jenn Daniels noted when Council pay gets out of whack it is difficult to get it adjusted since no one wants to vote to raise their own salary. Councilmember Jared Taylor said he would like to roll Council pay back to where it was before the last increase in July, 2017. He said Council pay should cover a Councilmember’s financial obligations. Council pay should not be comparable to the market. Councilmember Jordan Ray said the difference between the previous and current salaries is about $2,000. He would like to keep the current salary but would not protest if the salary reverted to the previous salary. Chief Talent Officer Jolean Fleck said the Town does benchmark the Council’s salary with other cities. Councilmember Jordan Ray said the current Council would not approve a pay raise to get to that level. Mayor Jenn Daniels said the Council does not serve for the money, it is more about service to the community. No one on Council is working for the money but there should be reasonable pay for the work done. The Town has lost some people who could not afford to continue to serve on the Council. She said she does see Councilmember Jared Taylor’s point and she does not want the pay set too high. Mayor Jenn Daniels said it would be nice to have the salaries be a round number. Councilmember Jared Taylor said he would like to round the current salary down to an even number. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked Special Counsel Andrew McGuire what else the Town needs to consider. Special Counsel Andrew McGuire said he can write in the Ordinance that Council salary will remain the same until adjusted by a Council vote. The new salary would not take effect until the next Council is seated. Mayor Jenn Daniels said to round the salaries down and put the changes in the Ordinance suggested by Special Counsel Andrew McGuire. Councilmembers Jordan Ray and Jared Taylor are comfortable with that. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:27 a.m. ___________________________________ Jenn Daniels, Mayor