Friday, December 21, 2001
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Friday, December 21, 2001 |
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Commission delays pay raise vote By JOHN
THOMPSON
The Fulton County Board of Commissioners will wait until the new year to vote on increasing the pay for commissioners in 2003. The matter was supposed to be discussed Wednesday, but was not brought up before the board. 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. In a statement released earlier this month, 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 South Fulton 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. The vote is now set for Jan. 2.
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