Starkville aldermen are set to vote today on pay raises for their own positions and for city employees.
A resolution included in Tuesday’s e-packet would increase the seven-person board’s individual pay from $15,000 to $20,000 effective at the start of the next term — July 1, 2017 — and provide an across-the-board, 3-percent raise this year to all city employees.
The only position that would not see a pay increase is Mayor Parker Wiseman’s job.
In 2013, aldermen moved up a then-pending pay raise for themselves and Wiseman by a year while increasing property taxes by 1.98 mills. That pay raise was previously approved by the prior board of aldermen. Before then, aldermen previously earned $12,000 annually.
Comparatively, West Point selectmen make $18,000 for their service, while Columbus councilmen earn $17,500 annually.
Starkville’s previous raise increased Wiseman’s salary to $71,500 annually. West Point Mayor Robbie Robinson earns $50,000 per year. Columbus Mayor Robert Smith’s salary was unavailable at press time.
Although he’s at the top of Starkville government, Wiseman is not the highest-paid administrator. The city’s chief administrative officer, Taylor Adams, holds that distinction. He earns about $9,000 more than the mayor.
While some aldermen said they’re open to exploring a minor pay raise, a recent attempt by Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn failed last month. Her attempt came as the city broached economic development and infrastructure bond intent notices and discussions on water and sanitation rate increases.
Often noting the county’s ability to fund yearly cost-of-living adjustments for its workers, Wynn has repeatedly pledged to remain committed to meaningful pay raises.
The city’s e-packet does not list who wrote the motion, but aldermen said they understood the request to have originated from Wynn.
Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard, who also chairs the city’s budget committee, said he is willing to look at employee raises if they’re split across multiple years.
“A 3-percent raise could max us out in terms of discretionary personnel funding that would be needed to help fill out (Starkville Police Department’s) request for more officers,” he said.
If the board is looking to increase its own salary, he said, then aldermen should also increase the mayor’s salary.
“I think we make enough — the pay is sufficient,” said Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver. “I’m going to have to look and see if we can afford raises for everyone. This is the year a lot of big-ticket expenses are hitting. I’ve never felt like this before as an alderman, but with the municipal complex, the (Golden Triangle Development LINK’s proposed industrial park) and other bond issuances, I really feel like it’s time to slow down and take a hard look at the bottom line.”
Fire chief applicants
In other business, aldermen are expected to trim a 10-person applicant pool and set interviews with finalists vying to become Starkville’s next fire chief.
City staff previously confirmed the applicant pool includes five Starkville Fire Department employees: Fire Marshal Stein McMullen, Battalion Chief Curtis Randle, Capt. Andy Sharp, Firefighter Heath Vaughn and Training Officer Charles Yarbrough.
The external candidates — Jimmy N. Austin, Michael R. Chandler, Christopher D. Gale, Keith G. Juneau and Terry J. Tucker — includes three employees of north Mississippi fire departments and two out-of-state workers.
McMullen, 40, joined SFD as a firefighter in 1996 and later was promoted to fire inspector. In 2005, he was promoted to one of the city’s two fire marshal positions.
Randle, a 25-year SFD veteran, serves as one of the department’s three battalion chiefs. Last month, Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins failed attempt to name Randle as the interim chief drew veiled accusations of racism against four white aldermen.
Sharp, 60, joined SFD as a firefighter in 1990. He worked through the ranks and earned promotions to sergeant, lieutenant and captain. Sharp has also served as an interim battalion chief off and on for about a year.
Vaughn has served as a Starkville firefighter for about 15 years.
Yarbrough, 43, joined the department as a firefighter in 1995. He was promoted to sergeant and lieutenant shortly after but decided to pursue an administrative career through training and educational efforts. He was named training officer in 2008.
The board is also expected to approve the issuance of a $3 million-maximum bond to fund infrastructure improvements. Aldermen previously approved an intent notice last month, and Tuesday’s resolution states no formal challenges to the issuance materialized.
Insurance change
A process that could replace Starkville’s long-serving insurance agent of record is also expected to be approved today.
The board is expected to approve a request for proposals drafted by Adams that seeks applicants for the job.
Wiseman vetoed the board’s March decision to replace Tim Cox, who has served the city for 18-years, with the Integrity Group’s Debbie Jaudon after Wynn alleged Cox concealed information from aldermen regarding the city’s controversial plus-one insurance option.
The RFP process will allow Cox and other interested parties to apply for the position, a procedure Wiseman and other aldermen opposed to Wynn’s motion said they would support.
With guidance from city staff, Cox authored Starkville’s self-funded insurance policy for Fiscal Year 2014-2015. Within that policy was an option that extended coverage to adult dependents of employees’ choosing, including their same-sex partners.
In January, aldermen amended the policy to cover only those in state-recognized marriages — heterosexual couples — and rescinded Starkville’s statement of inclusion, the first non-discriminatory policy from a Mississippi municipality that extended protections to lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender employees.
A slew of Open Meetings Act complaints against the city in regard to how it used executive session to tend to the two matters and discussions on Starkville Parks Commission’s impending takeover were subsequently filed with the Miss. Ethics Commission by former CAO Lynn Spruill.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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