In the city council meeting last night, Lewiston City Councils spoke to a nearly-empty room. One of the items on the agenda was a pay raise for city councilors and the mayor.
The committee working on the idea recommends a 5-step increase that would pay more depending on how long someone has been on the council. All steps would also increase at 1.5% plus the cost of living allowance rate.
Former city councilor Bob Blakey headed the committee and remarked that no citizens came to any of their open meetings. He said the pay has often spent years in Lewiston stagnant and their recommendation takes care of that.
“What that does is it takes a lot of the responsibility out of this committee meeting every two years to decide what is the perfect number for you all.”
Councilor Jessica Kline said she wasn’t sure about the necessity of the step increases if the committee has to meet every two years by law, but she does like increasing the pay because it can attract new blood to a sometimes-less-than-pleasant job.
“I know as council members and mayor, you get a lot of flack from the public for doing your job. It’s very taxing on your family and yourself. You see a lot of people not run again because of the attacks.”
Right now the mayor earns $84,000 per year. Under the new schedule he would earn $106,303 per year. Blakey made it clear that number would come down if the mayor ever hired an assistant to help with city administration.
City Council members currently make $700 per month. That number would go up to $720 for a first-year councilor up to $826 per month for a long-standing councilor.
Instead of acting on the matter, Mayor Johnson recommended they have the city attorney look at the numbers to make sure they’re doing everything by the book. They will bring it back up in a future meeting.
