ORDNC-2024-1 : Amending Melrose Revised Ordinances, Chapter 48-1 Mayor Part A Salary by adding additional compensation to take effect beginning January 1, 2026.

Transcript (~14 min @ 31:39)

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▶ 31:32 Ryan Williams: Public comment is now closed. As a reminder, this is ordinance 2 2 4 1 amending Melrose Revised ordinances, chapter 48, 1 Mayor Party a salary by adding additional compensation to take effect beginning January 1st, 2026. We have no representatives from the administration here to speak on this order tonight. And I'd like to point out for the, um, for the public that this order was put down by Mayor Paul Broder at the end of his last term. So Mayor ti um, is not going to be here to speak in this because it would be kind of unethical for her to, to speak on this order tonight. What is the, uh, discussion from counselors,

▶ 32:12 Speaker 4: uh, counselor Vandiver?

▶ 32:13 Kimberly Vandiver: Um, so I appreciate the data that's been shared. Um, along with, uh, along with this proposal, um, I like graphs, so I graphed it. Um, I'd be happy to pass it out to the other counselors, um, to take a look at what that kind of looks like instead of, you know, looking at a lot of numbers. Is that okay if I pass it?

▶ 32:34 Speaker 4: Yeah, that absolutely. Yeah. Pass it around. I'll get

▶ 32:42 Speaker 6: Thank you. I'll take thanks.

▶ 32:43 Speaker 2: I have one. I'm Good.

▶ 33:00 Kimberly Vandiver: Um, so I just wanted to highlight, um, looking at the graph. So I've, I've done it two different ways. Once, um, looking at the, on the top graph, looking at population linearly. So this one's very smushed together because you see, um, Boston on the far right, kind of dwarfing everyone with a huge population. Um, and also I guess to orient you, the circles are, um, towns with mayors. Um, the triangles are towns with town administrators, um, which was kind of called out in the pre prior discussion, um, with the prior city council as being in general higher, um, than the mayoral salaries. Um, and the stars, there are two stars here for May, uh, Melrose's current and proposed salary. Um, and so the, so we have one graph linearly, and then at the bottom we have a log scale, which stretches out the x axis to, um, show the changes a little more clearly, um, with an emphasis on the, the smaller changes. Um, so I guess, uh, the conclusion, what I just wanted to show people with this is that we're, I, I think what people have discussed, but it's a little easier for me to see visually, is that, um, right now we are, we're kind of in the middle, um, pay-wise. Um, I think there's a lot of merit as well to, you know, paying, um, public employees, um, in a, in a, in a way that is, uh, going to attract the best talent. And, and so I'm not fundamentally opposed, um, but to add a little context around it and, um, I think for me, looking at this data, this suggests perhaps less of a correction needed to get us into the right range and more of a, um, regular cost of living increase to keep us in the right range. Um, but I'd be happy to hear what others think about that.

▶ 34:43 Speaker 4: President Mingle, Mr. Chair,

▶ 34:45 Speaker 5: I'd like to make a motion to have this added to the record.

▶ 34:51 Speaker 3: Motion requires a second, second. Second.

▶ 34:53 Ryan Williams: Alright. Motion by Councillor Melli to add the charts provided by Councillor Vandiver to the record, seconded by Councillor Romanul, and it will be added to the record. Thank you.

▶ 35:03 Speaker 6: All

▶ 35:11 Speaker 4: Other discussion? Any other discussion from counselors? You have to then call a vote on It, right? Oh, I have to call a vote on that. Okay. Alright. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Wonderful. Thank you. Any opposed?

▶ 35:25 Ryan Williams: Alright, that motion passes.

▶ 35:30 Speaker 4: Councilor Ul, do you have your hand up? Yeah.

▶ 35:34 Devin Romanul: Um, in no particular order, I'll, I'll just share. Um, I, I do think it's important, like much like in real estate to have your comps, your communities that, um, you know, you see as your, uh, uh, pure communities. Uh, ideologically I think it's enormously important that we pay our public servants what they're worth, um, talent and is talent recruiting is just one of the big, uh, um, uh, Achilles heels in the public sector, uh, like in a lot of places. So, um, I would think about it more in line with that than necessarily a singular individual. Um, I'd love to get a sense as to, um, you know, maybe no one could speak to this, but how that number was arrived at and whether or not there are other communities that have regular cost of living adjustments built into the contracts kind of in one piece. And then the other is, or does anyone know if, um, you know, if other communities have seen salary changes midterm and if they've delayed them until the next inauguration rather than being in the middle of the term. So I think those are two things that I'd be interested in discussing.

▶ 36:39 Speaker 4: Thank you.

▶ 36:46 Ryan Williams: What's The, what's the order here if, uh, all counselors, any, any other counselors, um, in the committee voting members wanna speak for the first time? Anybody? Yeah. Nobody. Okay. Councillor Stewart, you had your hand up. I think first,

▶ 36:58 Robb Stewart: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, and, and through the chair, I I just wanna speak to the, the, uh, committee to, uh, remind the committee that, um, I think this is, uh, a vote on the position and not the person. Right? And I, I think we all understand that. I think some, some folks believe that, um, you know, it's an evaluation of an individual. It really is what we want that position to be now and in the future. And so, uh, in, instead of looking at, uh, the individual's performance, it's really what is that salary gonna look like today and what is that salary gonna look like over the subsequent years for the position. I think there's a really important distinction between, uh, evaluating an individual and evaluating the, the salary ban that this position requires to be effective at its role. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank

▶ 37:52 Ryan Williams: You. Councilor. President Melli.

▶ 37:56 Leila Migliorelli: Oh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I just wanted to just echo I guess what Councilor Stewart just said that this, this is more about the position, less about the person. If, just for matter of reference, this is also kind of a, I'll just speak like an awkward order. We had a former mayor put this down. We have no one to ask questions of. Um, I agree that the information in the order about justifying it is not that robust. It's kind of leaving out major pieces that would be, I think, helpful for the public to know, which is if you go to, um, in our section three, one of our code, it talks about mayoral compensation. And there's this really very specific timeline of when you can put forward a raise. So it isn't merit-based like most other, many other positions are. Um, I it is very dense and legalese, but I'll, I'll read it aloud for purposes of sharing, um, compensation. The city council shall by ordinance establish an annual salary for the mayor. No ordinance altering the salary of the mayor shall be effective unless it shall be, have been adopted before the expiration of 18 months following the beginning of the term for which councils are elected. And it provides that the salary is to become effective in January of the year following the next biennial city election. So it's not really something that can be done on a frequent basis at the whim. And, and it's certainly, just to reiterate, not done by the current, um, mayor, it just can't by legal statute. The other thing to note is that the salary for mayor has not changed since 2014. Um, so when we're talking about annual increases, the mayor does not receive annual increases, but it's by this ordinance, which, if you, again, if you can go into our city, uh, chapter 4 48, um, of our code and see that the last time it was voted on was January 1st, uh, 2014. So I think these are just things to kind of keep in mind that it, this is very, very different than your sort of average person's salary evaluation. We are looking at a position, um, it may not get changed again for another 10 years. Um, so something to kind of be mindful of. And I think it, it is worth doing some research and that would, um, have to be on the part of the council or the mayor at whatever time that makes sense based on the charter to kind of take a look and see what, um, you know, what makes sense if we wanna do this more regularly. So, um, just wanted to acknowledge this as kind of an awkward timing. Um, and we have, there's a little bit more guardrails, which I think should have been put into the order itself, so that way the public would've known that this is how we kind of have to operate for this particular salary increase. Thank you.

▶ 40:39 Ryan Williams: Thank you, president Melli and Councilor Repe.

▶ 40:42 Mark Garipay: Thank you. Uh, Mr. Chair, I just, um, wanna go over a little bit of how I've, uh, how I'm think thinking about this. And a lot of it was, was said, um, you know, I think it's important, I'll reiterate it, that this was, this was sent down by the former administration, the former mayor. I'm looking at it as a position, not, not, not a person. Um, and to, uh, counselor, uh, president Re's point, the only way we can add a cost of living increase. So, um, I thought it was 2015, but if it was 2014, um, at two point half percent, it would probably be over 150,000. 'cause I based it on six years and it was, it was 144 something. Um, so unless we open a charter review, that's the only way we're gonna be able to consistently put a cost of living increase or change the way the, the mayor gets paid. And maybe, you know, maybe a charter review should come up at some point sooner than later. Um, but I, I do believe that, um, with one of the Proprie speakers, it was here, uh, in, in the public comment, I believe it should, should be 150 to 175,000. Um, I think prior to 2014, we went from 90,000 to 125, which is, which is 30 34% increase. Um, and that was in 2015. It was, it was, I believe 90,000 was the position. Um, so just a couple items I wanted to point out. I'm in support of this when it comes to the city council. I will be voting in favor of it. Um, but that's addressed. Thank you. Thank

▶ 42:29 Speaker 4: You. Councillor Brosky. I think, um, understanding what President Midgley, uh, just pointed out that we haven't seen an increase in the mayor's salary since 2014. I think the compensation is more than fair and we actually may be coming in low. And, um, you know, I think, uh, this is a good opportunity for us to see a fair increase in the mayor's salary. It was put forth by a former mayor, not by the current mayor. I, I think it's the right thing to do.

▶ 43:04 Speaker 4: Thank you. Councillor Brisky. I apologize for my cough. I sudden tickle in the back of my throat. It's all right.

▶ 43:11 Ryan Williams: Are there any other questions? Councilor? Uh, non-voting members, excuse me. And I wanna point out that also that, um, councilor Stewart and Councilor Ope were also non-voting members. So, uh, Councillor Hamilton. Thank you. Thank you.

▶ 43:21 Ward Hamilton: Uh, one other thing I'd like to point out is when we look at the, uh, the data that was left behind by the prior administration, um,

▶ 43:33 Ward Hamilton: we don't know in those other municipalities what the, the duties and responsibilities are of those mayors. We know in Melrose, our mayor also serves on the school

▶ 43:44 Speaker 1: committee, which not a

▶ 43:45 Ward Hamilton: full-time job, but it's a lot of work. So I think we should recognize that, uh, as the conversation about compensation goes forward. Thank you.

▶ 43:54 Speaker 4: Thank you.

▶ 44:02 Speaker 4: In? Sure. Jump in. Non-voting member, uh, counselor Rio?

▶ 44:09 Speaker 4: Yeah. Close enough. Close. Okay.

▶ 44:10 Speaker 5: Um, I just wanna say that I was actually surprised when I looked at the salaries. I thought, um, for all the cities there were actually lower than what I was expecting. Um, and knowing I'm sure the job entails, you know, the, the job of the mayor is a big one. Um, but the timing of this, I think is really hard for their residents to digest because we have so many increases coming in. So I can understand that. But at the same time, so I think as far as the community, it's, it's hard for them to kind of take this in because we're telling them that we're gonna be raising all these other things. So, um, I think we just have to be cognizant of that.

▶ 44:54 Speaker 4: Thank you.

▶ 44:59 Speaker 4: What is the will of the committee?

▶ 45:05 Speaker 3: I'll make a motion to recommend. Okay.

▶ 45:06 Ryan Williams: Motion to recommend made by councilor. Excuse me. Councillor Aldine. I'll second And second by Councillor Reul.

▶ 45:16 Speaker 4: Any discussion? All in favor?

▶ 45:21 Ryan Williams: Aye. Roll call vote. We've been told it's a roll call. Vote folks call the roll please.

▶ 45:29 Speaker 1: Vice chair Romanul Aye. Councillor Reky?

▶ 45:35 Speaker 1: Yes. Councillor Jamine? Yes. Councillor Vandiver? Yes. Uh, president Elli? Yes. And Chair Williams? Yes. It's unanimous. All six? Yes.

▶ 45:50 Ryan Williams: That motion carries. And this order will be brought to the full counsel with a recommendation for passage. Um, there's no other business on our agenda tonight, so I will Motion by unanimous Consent to adjourn hearing.