The Danville City Council is continuing to discuss changes in the city treasurer position, as well as in how the pay of aldermen is handled. For the treasurer, momentum continues among the council to have that position changed from elected to appointed. And the overwhelming thought heard at Tuesday (July 7th) evening’s Council meeting was that rather than doing it via referendum in the upcoming fall or spring elections, it would be better to do it by a City Council ordinance. That way, the Council would be able to make the change in plenty of time to have the change take effect prior to having another elected treasurer term from the Spring of ’27 Consolidated Election.
Aldermen such as Rick Strebing, and also mayoral candidate Doug Ahrens, both stated that treasurer issues from the past are something aldermen simply understand better than the public. Therefore, as Ahrens told CIMG, this is where the Council needs to stand up and be leaders.
AUDIO: I think the ordinance is the way to go because nobody’s more familiar with that than the actual representatives of the citizens, which are the aldermen. And they have dealt with that very closely over the last 20 years.
(1st and 2nd Pictures) Alderman and mayoral candidate Doug Ahrens, along with Alderman Rick Strebing, state their cases for an ordinance to make the treasurer an appointed position. (3rd Picture) Alderwoman and mayoral candidate Tricia Teague states her case for higher pay for aldermen, as well as having that pay tied to attendance at City Council meetings.
Meanwhile, the issue of adjusting pay for aldermen was discussed. Many Council members are leaning towards tying the pay in some way to attendance at City Council meetings; with varying opinions offered on how to handle the issue; such as with a third party to decide excused absences or a straight cap on how many meetings can be missed. Alderwoman and mayoral candidate Tricia Teague believes higher pay should be considered along with this; in essence solving two issues at once.
AUDIO: You have a number of elections where the incumbent is unopposed. And I think that if we increased pay, and we tied it to attendance, we might get some younger people involved. Because there’s people who are interested in being involved, but just don’t think that it’s worth their time; especially if they have like a second job or something like that.
Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr is intending for both of these items to be back in front of the full City Council very soon.
AUDIO: I would hope by the beginning of August, maybe we’ll have an answer at that first meeting. (So what we’re going to do is bring it by both committees and go through the process?) That’s correct, yes sir.
Mayor Williams says he’ll be working with Corporation Counsel Leon Parker on drawing up two proposed ordinances.
