Friday, January 25, 2002
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Friday, January 25, 2002 |
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Commissioners raise their salaries By JOHN
THOMPSON
The next board of commissioners elected in Fulton County will make significantly more than their predecessors. With little fanfare and no discussion, Fulton County Board of Commissioners raised salaries for themselves, starting in 2003. The original proposal was to raise each commissioner's salary from $25,000 to $45,000 and the chairman's salary from $27,000 to $50,000. But Wednesday, the board approved raising the salaries of the commissioners to $35,000 and the chairman's pay to $37,000, said public information officer Edwina Palmer. Only two commissioners voted against the raise; Bob Fulton and Chairman Mike Kenn. In a statement released late last year, 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 supported the raise. "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. "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.
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