After much discussion over several weeks, a proposed amendment to the city code wage chart, before the Danville City Council at Tuesday (Sept 1) night’s meeting, would have essentially kept the pay for aldermen the same, but changed the pay format to a per diem basis, meaning they could lose some of their pay for missing City Council meetings.
After a couple objections were voiced, over topics such as “why wouldn’t aldermen be penalized for missing committee meetings” or “what if the alderman or a family member is sick for a long period of time,” the change was voted down 9-5. No votes came from Aldermen O’Kane, Puhr, Poshard, Hightower, Butler, Ludwig, Jones, Strebing, and Cooper.
Two people who voted for it, although they had some disagreements on details, were Aldermen and mayoral candidates Tricia Teague and Doug Ahrens.
Alderwoman Tricia Teague (left) and Alderman Doug Ahrens (right), both mayoral candidates, each voted yes for the failed aldermen pay change; but also had some different views prior to the vote.
Teague, who wanted both an increase in pay and per diem pay, said the proposal would have been a good first step; but understood why some had problems with it.
AUDIO: That’s how democracy works. It’s up to the people that vote. So, I don’t know where we go from here. I think per diem is a step in the right direction. But, I can respect why they had issues with it. I had my own concerns about it as well.
For Ahrens, who leaned towards the per diem change without the pay increase; he says previous council problems from the past that made him desire per diem are not there right now. But he believes the voters should have it.
AUDIO: You know, the good news is, we’ve had good attendance from this City Council. So, there’s been no issues similar to that. (But) the other reality is that citizens will continue to pay people whether show or not for the actual votes. You know, I think it’s something that will continue to be worked on.
Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr agreed with Ahrens’ last point; saying that the aldermen pay issue is bound to come up again.
AUDIO: It was brought up originally over a decade ago, and it was brought up again today. So, I’m sure it could come up again at some point, but who knows.
Meanwhile, the wait continues for an outside legal opinion on possibly changing the Danville Treasurer to an appointed position. Former Alderwoman Brenda Brown once again spoke against that during “public comment,” saying that the consent decree written at the time of the 1987 change to an alderman form of government was not meant to simply “be satisfied,” but “to exist for all future generations.”
