League Of Women Voters Criticizes Newton Council’s Raise Process

NEWTON, MA — The League of Women Voters in Newton is criticizing the process by which a city council committee has started going about reviewing recommendations to raise pay for the city council, the mayor and school committee calling it a "non-transparent, rushed process" focused on the wrong things. The chairman of the City Council's Programs and Services Committee, meanwhile, said the next leg of the process is actually just getting started and there are plans for more robust, transparent conversation.

If the "Blue Ribbon" Commission recommendation to raise the pay for those elected politicians is to go into effect by January, when a new round of elected officials take office, it has to be voted on by 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 process started earlier this year and a team of more than a dozen non elected officials studied the pros and cons before most of them opted to recommend a raise. Two dissenting members noted the process should have been more transparent at times, as Patch reported earlier.

On the heals of the Blue Ribbon report in May, the recommendation went to the City Council’s Programs and Services Committee for review. At a June 19 meeting committee members asked questions about the Blue Ribbon commission's process, how they came to recommend $140,000 salary for the mayor and what went into recommending that school committee members get $7,500 and be eligible for benefits, and much discussion centered around the logistics of politicians having access to the same benefits as employees, according to the minutes of the meeting.

Two members of the League of Women Voters of Newton were at the public meeting. The members said they were concerned that committee's review of the Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations failed to dig deep enough, come to consensus or indicate a clear intention to present to the full council ahead of a September vote.

"Since [May] the Programs and Services Committee has discussed it for at most 90 minutes, without arriving at or voting on a solid recommendation," the league president noted in a letter to the committee.

What struck the members of the league was that the committee seemed to zero in on most was how to accomplish a vote of the full City Council by the end of September so that if it passed the incoming council could get the pay raise in January.

"This was extremely disappointing, in part because it seemed as if there was already a general agreement about a raise, and the focus had turned to how much and how to hold a vote in time for the raise to start in January," President of the League of Women Voters of Newton Marcia Johnson.

Johnson said it was not made clear how much of a raise will be presented to the full City Council, or what the structure of the compensation might be, and where the city would get funding for any raises.

"In short, what is the committee recommendation to be put forward to the full City Council? Will there be another public hearing and some public outreach about this issue once you have decided?" she wrote.

The Blue Ribbon commission was concerned about the issue of equitable total compensation for all City Councilors and for all School Committee members, and needed to be looked at closely, said the league president.

"The increased cost to the City and taxpayers also deserves time and thought. However, it appears that the rush to vote in time for the City Council to see a pay raise in January outweighs the need for transparency and deliberation," said Johnson.

City Councilor John Rice, who is the chairman of the Programs and Services Committee which only meets twice a month and generally not in July and August, said that June 19 meeting was the first meeting the committee could put the beginning of the conversation on the docket and the reason it focused a lot on the time frame, was because the purpose was to hammer that out.

It was the last meeting before summer and there was a consensus among the committee, he said, that they didn't want to have meetings in the summer and hasten the process.

"Last night was a first deeper discussion, and we're going to have another deeper discussion in the beginning of September and then there will probably be another discussion within the Programs and Services Committee and then there will be a long discussion in front of the full City Council," said Rice, referencing the Wednesday night hearing.

The goal, he said, is to let as many people weigh in on the Blue Ribbon plan before they make their recommendations.

"We wanted to make sure it wasn't done in the middle of summer. And we also didn't want to start the discussion until we started getting feedback," he said.

Once the programs' committee makes a recommendation, then the full city council discusses it.

Rice said he wants residents to know they can give feedback on the Blue Ribbon commission's recommendation to city council members throughout the summer.

" And we'll make sure everyone is notified about the next public hearing," he said. "And when this gets to full city council, no matter what the recommendation is in the Programs and Services Committee, this will be a long debate within the full city council."

The full letter as sent to the Patch:

On June 19, 2019, two members of the League of Women Voters of Newton (LWVN) observed a meeting held by the City Council’s Programs and Services Committee regarding the recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Salaries. Our comments below are based on the work of the committee so far to review the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission.

The League of Women Voters of Newton (LWVN) holds good governance as a core value. Our observations frequently separate out decisions on policy from the process by which the decisions are made. To date, the LWVN has not taken a position on whether to support or oppose an increase in compensation for our elected officials but does have comments on the process so far.

When we talk about process, we mean how our city government goes about making decisions. We appreciate that the City Council created the Blue Ribbon Commission on Salaries comprised of a variety of residents, none of whom currently serve as an elected official. This diverse group gave its recommendations to the City Council at the end of May, and since then the Programs and Services Committee has discussed it for at most 90 minutes, without arriving at or voting on a solid recommendation.

What seemed most important to the committee during its discussion was the time frame—how to accomplish a vote of the full City Council by the end of September in time to enact a pay raise for the incoming City Council in January. This was extremely disappointing, in part because it seemed as if there was already a general agreement about a raise, and the focus had turned to how much and how to hold a vote in time for the raise to start in January.

The Commission discussed at length their concern about equity among City Council and School Committee members as well as the impact of cost increases on the city, and neither concern has been further explored. The recommendation to restructure total compensation for elected officials was not enthusiastically received, and committee members noted that there would need to be a discussion with the Mayor about this proposal. Salary increase specifics were not discussed at great length either, though numbers went as high as $19,000 as a base salary for City Council members, not including health benefits. Note that if the councilors’ current base salary is nearly doubled, some would receive total annual compensation of almost $40,000.

The Programs and Services Committee then agreed to start a public comment period in July and to leave it open until early September. We appreciate having so much time for the public to comment, but are unclear of the hearing’s purpose and how this opportunity is being conveyed to the public. We are being asked to comment on the Blue Ribbon Commission recommendation, not on a proposal coming from this committee.

There did not seem to be an overwhelming agreement with the proposal of the Blue Ribbon Commission, so we are unclear how much of a raise will be presented to the full City Council, the structure of the compensation, and the source of the funding. In short, what is the committee recommendation to be put forward to the full City Council? Will there be another public hearing and some public outreach about this issue once you have decided?

We hope that the committee focuses on more than a raise in base salary. The concern shown by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Salaries about equitable total compensation for all City Councilors and for all School Committee members deserves careful thought and their recommendations should be seriously considered and explored.

Additionally, the increased cost to the City and taxpayers also deserves time and thought. However, it appears that the rush to vote in time for the City Council to see a pay raise in January outweighs the need for transparency and deliberation.

We note several facts that might not be well-known by Newton residents that are also worthy of inclusion in any discussion on this topic:

• Elected officials are treated as full-time employees of Newton, and so are eligible for the same benefits as full-time teachers, policemen, firemen and other city employees, regardless of how many hours the elected officials work. We note that the positions of elected City Councilor and School Committee member are intended to be part-time. Only the Mayor position is officially full-time.
• The base salary for City Council and School Committee members hasn’t changed in two decades. Those who do not take health benefits are compensated approximately $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.
• Health benefits can be worth over $20,000 if an official participates in a family health plan. Currently, about half of all City Councilors and School Committee members join the health plan, meaning that they are compensated up to $30,000 and $25,000 respectively.
• The Blue Ribbon Commission on Salaries recommended a new structure of compensation for City Councilors and School Committee members as a way to begin to address this inequity among elected officials who do and do not take health insurance. We note that the Commission had a number of human resource professionals and attorneys as members who pushed back on the City Law Office’s concern that this new structure would need to apply to all city employees.
• The Blue Ribbon Commission on Salaries was not charged with evaluating the funding source for any such increase, and so any additional cost to taxpayers for an increase in salaries still needs to be discussed and funds found.

In light of this rather non-transparent, rushed process, we are sending our letter to Village14.com, the Newton TAB, the Newton Patch, Newton News at NewTV and to all LWVN members in the hopes of sparking more discussion in the community.

Sincerely, Marcia Johnson President, League of Women Voters of Newton

• Listen to the June 19 meeting audio.
• Read the minutes of the meeting.

Previously on Patch: Commission Recommends Newton City Council, Mayor Get 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).