Pay raise for Quincy Mayor Koch? City councilors vote

QUINCY − The City Council approved Mayor Thomas Koch's $285,000 salary request, raising his annual pay from its current $159,000.

The council approved the raise by a 7-1 vote, with only Ward 5 Councilor Dan Minton voting against. Minton proposed a salary of $230,000. Council President Ian Cain, who is running for U.S. Senate, did not attend the meeting.

At the same meeting, the council referred a proposal to raise their salaries from $30,000 to $47,500 to finance committee. The measure will be voted on at the next council meeting, June 17.

In April, a city-hired consultant recommended as much as $370,000 for the position, based on a national survey of chief administrative officers for town and city governments. The raise will be Koch's second in his 16-year tenure as mayor and his first since 2014.

On Monday, June 3, a crowd of about 30 protesters opposing the raise filled the benches of Quincy's historic Town Hall, where the council regularly convenes.

'Grossly underpaid.' Councilor McCarthy defends big pay raise for Quincy Mayor Koch

Ward 1 Councilor Dave McCarthy, who chaired the meeting, spoke in favor of the raise, saying that the current pay package − $150,000 in base salary plus another $9,000 in car allowance and longevity pay − dissuades qualified candidates from seeking the position.

"The position here, at $150,000, is grossly underpaid," McCarthy said. "I could never understand it. The boss of the company, here Quincy, is getting out-salaried by the majority of his employees."

According to city data, Koch's current pay ranks 205 among all full-time city and school employees. The city, including its public school system, employs 2,482 people full time, according to Director of Municipal Finance Eric Mason, putting Koch in the 91st percentile.

As McCarthy cited salaries for town managers of less populous Massachusetts communities, several in the audience began to grumble.

"Whoever keeps talking, we're not going to have any talking out of the audience," McCarthy shot back. "I don't want to hear any more comments."

The council has not held a public hearing on the pay raise.

Liang says mayor's raise a step forward for women of color and marginalized communities

Councilor-at-large Nina Liang argued that the current pay, just over $159,000, contributes to systemic racism and sexism meant to keep historically oppressed populations out of representative government.

"Especially as the only woman up here, the only woman of color − there is a lot of conversation around that," she said. "People are saying, 'it's set up to keep people like me out.'"

Liang said that white, cisgender, straight men enjoy generational wealth that allows them to take government jobs paying as little as $160,000 while still making ends meet, an opportunity she said is not traditionally open to minorities.

"The amount of money for these positions is so low, that unless you can carry a second job or you come from generational wealth, you cannot do this job," she said. "Who can afford to do this? ... It's typically people who have been in America for generations, typically white folks.

"People coming from those marginalized communities don't have those same fiscal safety nets in place," Liang continued. "How can we ask them to take a job to represent their community when they financially can't do it? ... Nobody has talked about that. Here's an opportunity to make a change."

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The lone dissenter, Councilor Minton, suggests smaller raise for Koch

Explaining his no vote, Minton said $285,000 is "on the high side." Alluding to the fact that Koch hasn't received a raise since 2014, Minton asked, "Why didn't those affected ask (for a raise) during this time?"

Minton said he was "very troubled" by the consultant's recommendation and accompanying report, the so-called "Dorminson report," because the comparisons "did not correctly relate to Quincy."

Ultimately, Minton suggested a salary of $230,000 for the mayor's position before registering the sole no vote on the requested amount of $285,000.

Voice of the opposition. Local advocate 'disappointed' in the Quincy City Council's vote

Quincy resident Maggie McKee told The Patriot Ledger she was "disappointed" in the meeting, which she found "depressing."

McKee said that if councilors argue that $285,000 will attract more qualified and diverse candidates in the future, then the increase could take effect at the beginning of the next term, as stipulated in the city's charter, rather than at the beginning of calendar year 2025, as written in the ordinance effectuating the raise.

City Solicitor Jim Timmins has stated that state law overrides the city charter on this issue, and that a pay increase for mayors and city councilors can take effect in the calendar year following the vote.

On Liang's argument that the raise will advance diversity in government, McKee, who is Asian American, said that argument better applies to unpaid internships or low paying public positions, such as Quincy city councilors, who currently earn $30,000 annually.

"Especially in the context of the discussion last night, which was about the mayor's salary, (Liang's argument) just didn't hold water," McKee said. "I don't think $159,000 is low enough to exclude people from putting their hat in the ring."

Mayoral salaries in largest U.S. cities

The mayor's of America's two most populous cities, New York and Los Angeles, both come well short of the Quincy recommendation's upper limit. Here are the top four. When Koch's new salary kicks in, he'll make more than three of these mayors, assuming they don't get big raises, too.

• Eric Adams, mayor of New York, population 8.34 million: $258,041

• Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, population 3.8 million: $301,000

• Brandon Johnson, mayor of Chicago, population 2.67 million: $221,052

• John Whitmire, mayor of Houston, population 2.3 million: $236,189

Peter Blandino covers Quincy for The Patriot Ledger. Contact him at pblandino@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: How much will Quincy MA Mayor Tom Koch make starting in 2025?