LIMA — Lima City Council will hold a second reading on an ordinance to freeze the city’s mayoral salary for the next four-year term, which would begin in December 2017.
Designed to keep the mayoral salary at its current level of just more than $135,000, the ordinance failed to receive the six-vote majority needed to be approved on its first reading two weeks ago, with opponents saying voters are unhappy with the mayor’s current pay structure.
“In the 10 months I have been on Council, this is the No. 1 issue that residents have asked me about over and over again,” 4th Ward Councilwoman Rebecca Kreher said after the first reading. “I voted ‘no’ tonight because I’ve heard so many ‘noes’ from the residents. This is not a vendetta. I’m not voting ‘no’ because of a person, but because I’ve heard from voters.”
Another issue is that a salary of $135,000, along with benefits that bring total compensation up to $213,000, according to Kreher, is a stark contrast to a median income of $24,000 for city residents.
To compare this amount to other similarly sized Ohio cities, it is necessary to point out that Lima’s charter gives the mayor increased responsibilities akin to a city manager or safety service director in other communities.
For example, Lancaster, with a population of just less than 40,000 and with a median income of almost $37,500, has a mayoral salary of just less than $89,000, and the city also employs a safety services director with a salary range of just less than $79,000 up to almost $103,000. Huber Heights, with a population of just more than 38,000 and a median income of almost $52,000, has a mayoral salary of just $7,452, while the city manager has a salary of just more than $138,000.
“We are not a statutory city, and the mayor along with the other elected council members do not have day-to-day administrative or management responsibilities,” Huber Heights City Manager Rob Schommer said.
Proponents of the legislation maintain that it would allow the issue to be more thoroughly addressed in next year’s city charter review without risking further salary increases.
“I am hoping at that point that language can be developed to put this in the hands of the voters,” 5th Ward Councilwoman Teresa Adams said. “I feel the freeze is appropriate going forward to allow the discussion to occur in the city charter, where a more permanent, fair solution can be resolved.”
For Kreher and other opponents, a stopgap measure will not be enough to quell the discontent of Lima residents.
“Even if we get a new mayor or keep the current mayor, they want something that’s more palatable for the people of the city,” Kreher said.
