Commission Recommends Newton City Council, Mayor Get Raises

NEWTON, MA — A commission is recommending Newton's elected officials - from School Committee members to City Councilors to the mayor - be paid more. The findings of a "Blue Ribbon" Commission put together by City Council President Marc Laredo about seven months ago is now heading into final hearings before a city council vote in September. If the city council agrees with the recommendation, it would be the first time in more than a decade public officials got a raise.

The commission recommended the mayor get paid $15,000 more, and that city councilors get a $4,250 raise and that school committee members get a raise of $2,625.

Laredo has indicated he wanted the council to vote on this before elections. If they vote to go ahead with the raises, changes would go into effect by January 2020.

The City Council last looked at the compensation for its elected officials in 2005. At that time, a Blue Ribbon Commission recommended raising the salaries for all elected officials and providing a way to ensure future increases. The City Council ended up approving a salary increase for the mayor (who actually didn't take it for at least two years) but did not give themselves an increase.

Since then Newton's mayor gets a salary of $125,000 a year.

Newton's 24 city councilors have earned the same annual salary since 1998 - a stipend of $9,750. School committee members each receive an annual stipend of $4,875.

And that's lower than the average in other neighboring communities.

In neighboring Waltham, for example, where the mayor earned $141,320.24 last year, the city council president earned $18,402 and the other 14 councilors earned $17,902. School Committee members received $11,101. Waltham's population was estimated at 62,442 in 2017.

In the Town of Brookline, however, the chairman of the Select Board gets a "thank you" stipend of $4,500. The other four members get $3,500. School Committee members are volunteer positions and have no stipend. Brookline's population is estimated to be around 60,000.

In Cambridge, the mayor of the city of some 115,000 made $119,024.64 in 2018.

After 11 meetings and some 300 survey results from the public, the commission recommended increasing the mayor's pay to $140,000 and have her or him continue to be eligible for benefits, including use of the city car.

The commission also recommended that the city council receive an increase in their stipend to
$14,000, continued health benefits and, for those who do not participate in the city’s health plan,
a $5,000 increment to salary.

The commission also recommended that the School Committee receive an increase in stipend to
$7,500, continued benefits eligibility with a $2,500 increment to salary for those Committee
members who choose not to use the city's health care benefits.

Dissent

Not everyone is on board with the idea here in Newton. Three of the 13 people on the commission voted against the updates, and one person was not present at the vote. Some argue the city council should be smaller before folks on it are paid more. Others say the fee is nominal any way and won't make much of a difference.

Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce President Greg Reibman wrote in his descent that while he actually agreed with the updates on the raises, he voted against the plan because he saw there might be some holes in it.

"I am uncomfortable supporting this provision’s inclusion because it was not clear how the city can legally offer a payment for not participating in the city’s health plan to two groups of employees (councilors and school committee members) without also offering the same option to all city employees. Financially, I feared we were opening a Pandora’s box," he wrote.

He and Sue Flicop also noted he thought the commission should have been more transparent to more people throughout the process, and shared the final recommendations to the public.

"Because we are not giving an opportunity for public feedback on our recommendations, I believe there could be unintended consequences that would result from implementing them, consequences which public scrutiny might surface," she wrote.

Carolyn Gabbay, a lawyer with 40 years experience, pointed out that the communities Newton compared salaries with did not pay school committees at all. She also noted that although the schools make up a significant part of the city's budget, there's no evidence to suggest it would be difficult or burdensome to find candidates because of pay or health benefits.

"By paying School Committee members cash compensation that exceeds $5,000 for the first time, the City will trigger their eligibility for pension benefits, including the life-time subsidized health benefits that by law are coupled with pension benefits eligibility, for those members of the School Committee who achieve 10 years of public service through any combination of municipal, state and federal service."

And that, she said, could be a problem for the city's budget.

"It does not make fiscal sense to add to the potential pool of beneficiaries of pension and subsidized lifetime health benefits while trying to solve [the unfunded liability problem]," she wrote.

Public hearing

There will be a few more chances to weigh in if you've got a strong opinion. A hearing starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall's room 211 as the City Council’s Programs and Services Committee Wednesday, July 24. There's also one that will be scheduled for September, City Councilor John Rice told Patch.

"The goal is just getting feedback to the programs and services committee and then give that feedback, what residents want, to city council," said Rice.

Although the commission came out with a 105 page Report in May, based off some 300 comments from the public and elected officials, the city council doesn't have to just rubber stamp that, he said.

"The Blue Ribbon Commission has given a report to us, we don't have to approve it. The city council can change pieces of the recommendation and come up with our own recommendation or we could reject the proposal," he told Patch.

But, he said, if anything is to change by January 2020, the city council must vote by September 30, per the city charter. If they vote after that date, any change in compensation would not go into effect until 2022.

"If people aren't around you can email city councilors or watch for a hearing date in September," said Rice.

Previously on Patch:

• Newton Commission Asks If City Councilors Should Be Paid More
• Opinion: Say NO to Newton Politician Pay Raises

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).