Albany commissioners defend salary increase votes

Oct. 27—ALBANY — There are two actions that elected officials can take that are sure to get the notice of voters: raising taxes and increasing their own salaries. The Dougherty County Commission did the former two months ago, and on Tuesday the Albany City Commission approved a pay increase for commission members.

The pay increase for the City Commission positions, approved by a 6-1 vote, from $15,000 per year to $22,800 will take effect in mid-2024. The mayor's salary also will be increased from $25,000 to $35,000 per year.

In a separate vote, commissioners approved making themselves eligible to participate in the city's retirement plan. Commissioners will not be enrolled in the pension plan but can contribute money to the 401(a) plan.

The Herald spoke to members of the commissioners on Thursday about their votes.

The additional cost to the city for increased pay will be $28,400 for 2024 and $56,800 each year thereafter.

Commissioners who voted in favor said that the last pay increase went into effect 14 years ago and that the position is more than a part-time job.

"I get calls from my constituents talking about a snake's in their yard, or a possum's in their yard," said Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard, who voted for the charter amendment along with Mayor Bo Dorough and Commissioners Vilnus Gaines, Jalen Johnson, Chad Warbington and Demetrius Young. "I've even had calls about bees in trees. I also got calls this year about buzzards in the street."

Residents in his District II call about all sorts of issues, from street lighting, heat being on the fritz, utilities, alleys and other issues, Johnson said. Commissioners get those calls because it is easier to pick up the phone and call a commissioner, whose contact information is available to the public, than it is to find city employees to respond after hours.

"When it's not an emergency where somebody's dying, they call their commissioner," he said. "I think the (pay) correction ought to have been made before now for doing the work we do, which is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We get the calls."

Howard said commissioners use their own cars to investigate calls that can come any time of the day. The city's longest-serving commissioner, elected in 1993, Howard said that previous salary increases have drawn criticism.

"The majority of your constituents are going to criticize because they think you're a public servant and they think you should work free," he said. "A lot of voters feel that you should just volunteer and do it for free. There are over 6,500 registered voters in my district. They call you all times of the night with car break-ins, peeping toms, all kinds of things,

"I think this was overdue and we should be appreciated for the work we do."

For Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff, who cast the lone vote against the salary increases, the reason for the opposition was "simple."

"Like I told my fellow commissioners, I don't think my constituents want me to do either of those," he said. "It's as simple as that. I don't think my constituents are in favor of that."

Increasing pay and benefits also could encourage commission members looking to make serving a long-time plan, he said, which could discourage qualified candidates from making a run for office challenging an entrenched incumbent.

"I guess the good thing is it's not adding more people to the pension plan," he said. "It's a 401(a), which is like the 401(k) in the private sector," Langstaff said. "Still, from my perspective, I don't want to encourage people to stay in office forever. I think most of my constituents would be in favor of term limits."

The initial proposal was for commissioners to be eligible for the pension plan, a proposal Warbington of Ward IV said he would not have supported. During negotiations, that provision was removed from the final proposal.

"Really, that was my — when it was first rolled out several months ago — my objection was adding commissioners to a long-term benefit," Warbington said. "As commissioners, a benefit shouldn't be set up to make commissioners long-term (employees). I didn't think it was right to put commissioners on a long-term pension plan.

"The (401(a) was just opening up an avenue employees already have."

A study commissioned by the city compared Albany board members to those in comparable cities showed that those other cities, and some even smaller, paid more to their commissioners, Warbington said.

And, he added, like the $1 million in salary increase for city employees, it will not require a tax increase or increase in utility rates.

In the past, the commission has raised salaries about every 16 years or so, which would put the mid-2024 increase on par with that historic timeline, the Ward IV commissioner said. And, he notes, he would only be eligible if he seeks another term and is re-elected by the voters.

Since the commission doesn't increase salaries during an election year, if they did not take action this year it would have been at least until 2024 before they could have increased the salaries, Warbington said.

"It truly for me is a vote for the future, not a raise for me currently," he said. "If we don't do it now, you would really be waiting another two or four years. Fortunately, or not fortunately, we're the top decision-makers. There is no other way for us to get a salary increase.

"I've gotten a couple of (critical) emails. Being facetious, I'm guessing nobody is going to reach out and say 'Hey, good job.'"