The city will pay former registrar Brenda Williams $25,000 to oversee next year’s municipal elections.
Her contract amounts to six months of work, but the pay is almost equal to what Williams made annually when she was a full-time city employee.
Williams, who retired in 2021, will serve in place of current full-time registrar Yolanda Smith, who is on leave and likely won’t return to work until at least late 2025. Smith’s job is being held for her until she returns, but Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell previously told The Dispatch she is relying on donated paid leave from other employees. Once that runs out, Smith’s remaining leave will be unpaid.
The city council voted Nov. 19 to negotiate with Williams to serve as registrar for 2025. During a press conference Wednesday at City Hall, Mayor Keith Gaskin said the city initially offered Williams $15,600 for the work. She countered with $25,000, and the council accepted her terms in executive session Tuesday night.
Both votes – Nov. 19 and Tuesday – passed by 4-2 margins, with Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene and Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco opposed.
“She will work Monday through Friday from 8 to 5,” Gaskin said Wednesday, noting the job would start with candidate qualifying in January and run until the election is certified in June. “She will have the job description of a registrar.”
Per the city’s job description for the position, the registrar oversees voter registration and ballot processing (including sending and receiving mailed ballots), as well as coordinates supplies for polling places, assists citizens and candidates with all election activities and provides information to political parties, among other duties.
Williams worked 24 years for the city, from 1997 to 2021, and made $29,000 annually. During her tenure, she also ran the city’s Action Center, which fields concerns from citizens by phone or online and passes them on to the proper department. After Williams’ departure, the bulk of the Action Center duties passed to Gaskin’s executive administrative assistant Angela Jones.
Smith made $34,000 in Fiscal Year 2024, Mitchell previously told The Dispatch, but her job also included assisting with the Action Center and helping the chief operations officer.
Gaskin, DiCicco and Greene all told The Dispatch they wanted to at least get a quote from the circuit clerk’s office for running next year’s election, rather than negotiate exclusively with Williams.
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones said Wednesday he was under the impression the circuit clerk’s office wasn’t interested. In any case, he said Williams’ $25,000 price tag would not include benefits, since she will be an independent contractor.
“That helped persuade me,” Jones told The Dispatch.
Speaking with The Dispatch on Wednesday, Circuit Clerk Teresa Barksdale “roughly” estimated her office could handle the municipal election for $12,000 to $15,000. But, as Jones suspected, if the city had asked, the answer would have been no.
“We’ve never done it, and it’s not a partnership I’d want to entertain at this time,” Barksdale said.
Greene told The Dispatch his opposition to Williams wasn’t personal. He just thought the city should have sought the best deal.
“Maybe that was the best choice in the end, but I would like to know all the numbers,” he said. DiCicco was more pointed.
“I think Ms. Brenda, as a former employee, is taking advantage of the people of Columbus when we’re in a position where we need her help,” she said.
None of the other three council members who voted to hire Williams on Tuesday – Ward 1’s Ethel Stewart, Ward 2’s Joseph Mickens and Ward 4’s Pierre Beard – responded to calls or messages from The Dispatch by press time.
Public works raises
Also in executive session Tuesday, the council approved raises for seven public works employees to further combat salary compression created by raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour for city employees.
Five truck drivers received a $2 raise to $17 an hour, and two boom truck operators received a $1 bump to $18 per hour.
“That will alleviate some of the skilled employees, the CDLs, making less than crew leaders in the public works department,” Gaskin said.
Public Works Director Casey Bush told The Dispatch that crew leaders have a standard driver’s license and operate vehicles that don’t require special licenses and training.
Bush also proposed raises for himself, his assistant director and his office manager Tuesday night, Gaskin said, but the council did not vote on those.
The council included $41,000 in this year’s budget to fund raises to combat compression as those issues were brought forward.
Chief Financial Officer Jim Brigham told The Dispatch the public works raises would cost $16,160, bringing the balance of that budget line item to $24,840.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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