During the committee reports portion of Monday’s Henderson City Council meeting, council member Mary Emma Evans expressed a desire to come back to the council with a proposal to raise the salary of city council members.
According to Evans, council members make $1,953 annually.
“And we have been meeting, meeting, meeting,” Evans exclaimed to members.
Evans claimed that elected officials in other cities and in Vance County make more.
Members of the Vance County Board of Education are paid $350 a month for their services.
Evans presented information from other cities citing the pay of elected officials. She reminded council members that such information was used to determine the city manager’s pay.
The information regarding the pay of the city manager may be reviewed here. The document was provided to Home in Henderson unsolicited by council member Bobby Gupton. Gupton also provided two copies of the information gathered by Evans on the pay of elected officials. The first version, which may be viewed here is the original version as presented by Evans. The second version, which may be viewed here, includes population data added by Gupton.
The chair of the Human Resources Committee claimed that a higher council salary would generate more interest from the community in serving on the city council. She claimed that there are residents who would like to be council members, but who cannot work for free.
Gupton commented that the cities cited on Evans’ sheet were not the same as those used to determine the manager’s pay. Evans rejoined that she had not done the research, that rather the city manager and the secretary had.
Harper asked if Evans was proposing that a Human Resources meeting be held to discuss the raise.
A committee meeting was scheduled for June 14 at 9:00 a.m.
In an email exchange with Home in Henderson, Gupton had the following comment on the subject of a possible raise for city council members:
“I was not consulted prior to the request for a pay raise and we did receive the same 3% as the city employees. I could not in good faith request that the city do more for me than other employees. If it comes to a vote I will not vote for it.”