Posted on 05/28/2002 5:08:54 PM PDT by GailA
Mayor slashes salary requests
Citing 'inequity,' he asks 3 percent raises for aides
By Blake Fontenay fontenay@gomemphis.com May 28, 2002
Mayor Willie Herenton has scaled back his proposal to give big raises to his chief administrative officer and city division directors.
In a memo sent Friday, Herenton instead suggested 3 percent salary increases for Chief Administrative Officer Rick Masson and the division directors.
Four days earlier, Herenton had surprised the City Council with a proposal to raise Masson's salary from $114,344 to $170,000 - a 49 percent increase.
A 3 percent increase would bring Masson's salary to $117,774.32.
Herenton had also suggested bumping the salaries of most division directors from $105,007 to $145,000 - a 38 percent increase. For Robert Lipscomb, director of both the Memphis Housing Authority and the Housing and Community Development division, Herenton had recommended a hike from $140,000 to $165,000 - an 18 percent increase.
Three percent increases would bring most directors' salaries to $108,157.81, while Lipscomb's pay would rise to $144,200.
Herenton presented his initial recommendations during a May 20 budget hearing.
But in the memo addressed to Tom Marshall, chairman of the council's personnel committee, Herenton said "inequities" in administrative salaries require more time to address.
"It is clear that external inequity exists between the current salaries of the city's CAO and division directors and the salaries of comparable positions in other city boards and commissions," Herenton wrote in the memo. "I appreciate your realization that this external inequity does exist. However, it will take a longer time frame to address this situation. Therefore, I am request ing 3 percent raises for the CAO and the division directors effective July 1, 2002."
The council is expected to take a final vote next Tuesday on the municipal budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Herenton couldn't be reached for comment Monday. However, some council members praised his decision to lower the salary requests.
Council chairman Rickey Peete speculated that Herenton may want to gather more data before suggesting the larger increases.
"I think he wants to take more time on it and compare the salaries to other cities and quasi-governmental agencies as well,'' Peete said.
Councilman Joe Brown called the original proposal "unfeasible" since most rank-and-file employees are slated to get only 3 percent raises.
"Everybody should be treated fairly," Brown said. "There has to be some parity across the board."
Council member Barbara Swearengen Holt noted the original request would raise directors' salaries above Herenton's own $140,000 annual salary.
"I think our directors do an outstanding job, but they shouldn't be paid more than the mayor,'' Holt said. "I just don't think that's appropriate."
Councilman John Vergos said that he has mixed feelings about the best way to reward outstanding employees.
"I think there should be a mechanism for rewarding a person - whether it's Rick Masson or someone else,'' Vergos said. "It's difficult to do something for one employee without affecting everyone else."
Herenton's memo didn't address a salary increase he had suggested for Herman Morris, president of the Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division.
Herenton proposed a pay increase from $178,693 to $231,000 for Morris - a 29 percent increase. Brown suggested Morris should also get a 3 percent increase. Although Brown said he had no qualms about Morris's ability, the economic times don't justify a bigger hike.
"It would be unfair to the taxpayers,'' Brown said. "We've got people right now who can't afford to pay their utility bills."
Vergos said any inequity in Morris's salary should probably be corrected over a longer period of time.
"I don't know that you do it all in one fell swoop,'' Vergos said.
LG&W officials did a study that indicated Morris's salary was substantially lower than that of other top executives. Herenton took that idea one step further by comparing salaries of LG&W's senior vice president and other vice presidents to Masson's salary and the division directors' salaries, which led to the mayor's initial recommendations.
Masson declined to comment about Herenton's revised salary proposal Monday.
- Blake Fontenay:
529-2386
SEE YOU WEDNESDAY IN NASHVILLE TO DEFEAT BOSS HOGG!
I recall trying to get my gas turned on after I moved many years ago. It required an in person visit and the office was straight out of a Kafka novel. MLG&W isn't a private utility. It is a city owned utility designed to provide old fashioned patronage jobs.
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