A proposed raise for the mayor and council members was approved last night, but not everybody is accepting the money.
The city of Columbus’ proposed Fiscal Year 2023 budget includes raises for both the mayor and the council. The mayor’s salary would increase $10,000 bump to $93,000 annually, and the council would get an $8,000 hike from $18,200 to $26,200.
Tuesday, Vice Mayor Joseph Mickens moved to amend the city code to give the raises, effective “the first pay period after this meeting.” Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Taylor Stewart seconded, and the motion passed 4-2, with Stewart, Mickens, Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard and Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones voting yes and Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene and Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco voting no.
Although there was no discussion at the time the raise was voted on, Mayor Keith Gaskin, Greene and DiCicco all told The Dispatch after the meeting that they would not accept the raise.
“If it would have come to a tie-breaking vote, I would not have voted for it,” Gaskin said. “So therefore I shouldn’t accept it.”
Greene said the same thing.
“I can’t vote no and then accept money,” he said. “That would make me a hypocrite. If I’m going to vote no on raises, then I’m just not going to accept it.
“I told another council member that I didn’t begrudge it if they wanted it,” he added. “There ain’t no hard feelings, but for me personally there are a lot more problems than giving ourselves a raise.”
DiCicco said she was declining for similar reasons.
“Because I voted against it, I think (turning it down) is the right thing to do,” she said.
Both Greene and DiCicco floated the idea of donating the money that would otherwise go toward a raise to some other line item in the city.
“Maybe I could have a choice where it goes,” Greene said. “That would be nice if I could donate my part somewhere else, but I don’t know if that’s legal.”
Initially, the budget plan raised the mayor’s salary to $106,000 and the council’s to only $25,000.
The council’s pay bump was one part of a budget that includes about $700,000 for city employees. City workers will get an across-the-board 4-percent raise, at a cost of about $400,000. Workers making less than $12.50 an hour will be brought up to that level, which costs about $300,000 and mostly affects employees in Public Works. Those won’t go into effect until Oct. 1, if they are ultimately included in the council’s approved budget.
Spears appointed to CRA board
Jason Spears was appointed to the Columbus Redevelopment Authority board. He replaces Mark Alexander Sr., who did not seek reappointment.
The appointment is for five years.
Spears, a financial adviser who recently completed a 10-year stint on the Columbus Municipal School District board, was selected from among five applicants. Others included Dutch Oil Vice President Matt Bogue, former Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce director Joseph Bragg, pharmacist Jerry Fortenberry and Factory Direct Furniture owner Eric Thomas.
Beard moved to appoint Spears, with a second from Stewart. However, Greene made a substitute motion, seconded by DiCicco, to appoint Bogue. Greene’s motion failed 4-2, with Stewart, Mickens, Beard and Jones voting no and Greene and DiCicco voting yes.
The motion to appoint Spears then passed 4-2, with Stewart, Mickens, Beard and Jones voting yes and Greene and DiCicco opposing.
“I’m very appreciative of the appointment,” Spears said after the meeting. “I’m really going to study what they’ve laid out and what they’ve got going and how I can offer some insights into how to stimulate progress in the direction of completing those projects.”
The CRA was founded in 2015, and in 2017 the city issued $3.2 million in bonds to buy and redevelop about 15 acres in and around the Burns Bottom area, focusing on a five-block area between Third and Fourth Street North and Second and Seventh avenues.
The CRA plans to attract developers into the area, with the intention of creating a mixed residential and commercial district surrounding the soccer complex and connecting it with the Riverwalk and downtown.
It also brokered the sale of the former Lee Middle School property on Military Road for private development in 2018.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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