Friday, December 7, 2001
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Friday, December 7, 2001 |
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Comission delays pay hike vote Proposal would nearly double salaries By JOHN
THOMPSON
The Fulton County Board of Commissioners will wait until Dec. 19 to vote on increasing the pay for commissioners in 2003. The vote was deferred Wednesday because two commissioners were not present for the vote, said Michael Harris, Commission Chairman Mike Kenn's chief of staff. The proposal is to raise each commissioner's salary from $25,000 to $45,000 and the chairman's salary from $27,000 to $50,000. Harris said that Commissioner Emma Darnell was upstairs when the issue was discussed, while Commissioner Karen Webster had left for the day. "There was nothing sinister about it. The commission just wanted to wait until a full board was present," Harris said. In a statement released Wednesday, Chairman Mike Kenn said he supports raising the salaries in general for elected officials, but could not support this motion. "I think it would be inappropriate to give commissioners a raise in light of the economic problems that the metropolitan Atlanta area is experiencing," Kenn said. Kenn also added the commission has consistently voted against raises for other employees in Fulton County, so he could not support a raise for the commission. But Commissioner Bill Edwards said he will support the measure. "I didn't get into this job to get rich, so it's really not going to affect me one way or the other," he said. Edwards said he has not heard from many of his constituents in South Fulton County on the issue, and said the low pay often keeps qualified leaders from choosing to run. "There's a lot of good people who can't afford to do this job, but are capable," he said. Edwards said his salary as a commissioner is used to pay for staff at his insurance agency so he can free up more time to do the county's business. He also spends money out of his pocket for items such as stamps and printer cartridges at his commission office, because the commissioner's staffing budget is low, he said. "Unless there's a groundswell of support against this from my residents, I plan to vote for it," he said.
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