City manager raise granted despite divided board

Nov. 16—ASHLAND — Despite a holdout and contentious exchange, Ashland's City Commission voted 3-2 in favor of extending a contract and more than a $30,000 pay bump to current city manager Mike Graese on Thursday.

The initial talks of a pay raise and continued contract with Graese came up earlier this month, but with Commissioner Cheryl Spriggs absent from the Nov. 3 meeting, the topic was tabled to Thursday.

Graese's contract currently includes a $130,000 salary, but the new ordinance granted an additional $33,000 — bringing Graese toward the top end of state averages of chief administrative officers.

In comparison to state averages of city management positions, out of 13 reported cities with population sizes of 20,000-99,000 (Ashland's being approximately 21,500) the listed maximum salary is a tad more than $180,000 per year.

With the first reading gaining approval from commissioners Josh Blanton and Amanda Clark and Mayor Matt Perkins, Graese's possible $163,000 ranks a little over the 75th percentile.

While majority overruled commissioners Spriggs and Marty Gute, a clear division severed the commissioners' bench.

In January 2021, the commission voted 4-1 in favor of three additional years under Graese's guidance. Spriggs was the lone opposed vote.

Spriggs continued the pattern, stating the commission had yet to give Graese an updated evaluation and made a motion to table the discussion again.

"We are putting the cart before the horse here — doing an evaluation after this meeting while we're voting on a raise," Spriggs said after her motion to continue was overruled by Blanton, Clark and Perkins.

Gute backed up Spriggs, implying he was blindsided by the proposed raise.

"I never got any memo or communication whatsoever and now I see the request for the $33,000 and I'm just puzzled," Gute said. "How am I supposed to fill out a favorable performance evaluation and he (Graese) just ghosts me?"

Gute said Graese also sent an article from The State Journal (Frankfort) about the implementation of a deputy city manager, which Gute said was "telling," considering the Frankfort article added the city of Frankfort capped its city manager's salary at $137,000.

"Are you saying that if we give you the $163,000 you can't do the job, so you need a helper?" Gute asked.

"I can't vote for this," Gute said, feeling as if he was given an ultimatum.

Spriggs said Graese pitched to her he deserved the raise because he "needed to be the highest-paid employee in the city of Ashland," later adding she had never received a $30,000 raise in her life.

Spriggs mentioned a budget that, in her opinion, wouldn't sustain that yearly increase.

While Spriggs and Gute were the outliers on the commission, they weren't alone in their belief that the pay raise was incompatible.

During public comment, Ashland residents Dave Williams and Kathy Meade voiced opposition to the pay raise as well.

Meade said she found the proposed salary increase "insulting" and offered solutions to the commission, stating either to review and negotiate the increase, open the position to a new candidate or simply Graese could extend his contract at his current pay.

Meade added she started a petition 48 hours before the meeting, which, according to her, had already garnered 100 signatures.

Meade said in conversations with the petitioners, the consensus was that the median household income in Ashland was $40,000 and "60-some percent," lived below the poverty line.

Williams said while he deemed Graese a "nice guy," he was apprehensive about the precedent being set at the expense of taxpayers.

"Eight times more than the lowest-paid income seems excessive for our town," Williams said.

Blanton was the first commissioner to voice opposition to Spriggs and Gute, saying the new salary base would put Graese in the "roughly 75th percentile" in city administrators.

"Now if you know Mike Graese, you know he's a 75th-percentile city manager, at least," Blanton said.

Blanton cited improvements to the city's water system and Graese's overall project management as deserving of a competitive wage, as Blanton said Graese hadn't received a raise since 2017.

Perkins said he had felt with Graese's leadership, the city had ample forward momentum, extending gratitude to city department heads present at Thursday's meeting.

"Most people would expect the CEO of a company to make the most of anybody else in a company," Perkins said. "We have given raises to every employee consistently to try to be competitive. ... I support this contract."

Perkins then sent the contract and proposed raise to vote, which prompted a "hold on" from Spriggs.

"Is this the whole contract?" Spriggs asked.

"It's the employment agreement, yes," Perkins said, causing Spriggs to lift her hands and lean back in her chair.

"So he'll get an automatic raise when — all that other stuff that's in there we haven't even negotiated," Spriggs retorted before she and Gute casted their "no" vote.

Blanton, Clark and Perkins in-favor votes outnumbered the two "no" votes.

During public comment, Mike Wurts, a longtime attendee and Pledge leader at commission meetings, took the mic after the previous two speakers opposed the increase.

Wurts said based on his attendance and to his witness, Graese "deserves it."

(606) 326-2652 — mjepling@dailyindependent.com