City planners get a jump in salary

Deirdre Newman

Mayor Gary Monahan showered Planning Commissioners with generosity

Monday, initiating an offer to up their monthly pay by $100 and pay

them by the month, not by the meeting.

His idea earned the unanimous support of his colleagues on the

City Council as they approved paying commissioners $400 a month.

Commissioners, who were taken by surprise, applauded the council’s

consideration of them.

“Everyone thought it was a nice gesture on [the council’s] part,”

Planning Commission Chairman Bruce Garlich said.

Previously, commissioners were paid $75 per meeting and only got

paid for meetings they attended. Now, they will get paid $400 per

month, even if there is only one scheduled meeting, as there will be

this month since the council canceled the Dec. 22 meeting because it

is so close to Christmas.

Both the council and the commission took pay cuts in 1992. The

council reinstated its previous pay for its own members in 1998. This

pay increase brings the commissioners back to the pay they enjoyed in

1992. In 1993, the council set the commissioners’ salaries at $75 per

meeting.

Monday, the council was only supposed to consider whether to pay

the commission by the month instead of by the meeting when Monahan

suggested bringing the commission up to its previous rates.

“An additional $100 for the Planning Commission, I don’t think is

a budget-busting proposition,” Monahan said. “[Commissioners] don’t

attend Planning Commission meetings for the salary. I think it’s

positive to bring them back to the salary they had.”

Garlich said compensation is appreciated by the commissioners

since their jobs entail time-intensive preparation for meetings in

terms of reading staff reports and visiting sites.

The pay raise will start this month.