'No one is here for the money.' Salary increase, insurance cut vote postponed by Assembly

The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates voted unanimously Wednesday to indefinitely postpone decisions on an ordinance that proposed salary increases and removing health benefits for its members and the county Board of Regional Commissioners. The Assembly could vote on Dec. 20 to ask the commissioners to take action on the health insurance issue on a new proposal introduced Wednesday.

The vote was prompted by a legal opinion that said the assembly does not have the authority to act on the health insurance under state law. The legal opinion came from attorney Michele E. Randazzo of KP Law, the counsel for both bodies, who also said the salary stipulations are within the assembly’s authority based on the county’s home rule charter.

The proposed salaries for the assembly delegates are $5,000 annually plus an additional $2,000 for the speaker and $1,000 more for the deputy speaker. The assembly salaries have been $1,000 a year since 1992.

The three regional board member salaries proposed are $15,000, a $1,000 increase, and an additional $2,000 for the board chair.

On the health insurance proposal

The assembly, as the county’s legislative body, does not have the authority to limit participation or establish requirements for participation in the county’s health insurance plans that contradict those outlined in Chapter 32B of the Massachusetts General Laws, Randazzo said. Instead, that determination is reserved to the Board of Regional Commissioners, she said, therefore that section of the “ordinance is not legally effective or permissible.”

Based on that opinion, all the delegates agreed to “sever Section 3” that pertained to the health care insurance.

“We need a conversation first about the health care issue,” Mary Chaffee of Brewster said. John Ohman of Dennis said it would be better to deal with the sections on salary “without the ambiguity of the KP Law opinion.”

Randazzo’s opinion further explained the law that states an employee must work at least 20 hours per week regularly to be eligible for health insurance benefits and that it would apply to both elected and appointed officials. “Persons elected by popular vote may be considered eligible employees during the entire term for which they are elected regardless of the number of hours devoted to the service of the governmental unit,” the law states.

Assembly Deputy Speaker Randi Potash of Chatham and Chaffee presented another resolution Wednesday that was not discussed or acted on the first time, as is the assembly’s practice. The resolution asks the board of commissioners to remove the insurance eligibility for the assembly and the board. “Let the commissioners deal with it,” she said. The resolution was based on the premise that the delegates and commissioners do not work the required 20 hours a week.

What about the proposed salary increase?

The assembly had little discussion Wednesday on the original ordinance, but its finance committee discussed it at length on Monday and voted unanimously to strike the health insurance section. In addition, on motions by James Killian of Sandwich, the committee voted 3-2 not to recommend to the full assembly either of the ordinance’s salary proposals. Potash and Susan Warner of Yarmouth were in the minority on the salary votes.

Several finance committee members commented that they were not drawn to the assembly because of the compensation. Killian said he was unaware of the compensation when he ran for the assembly. “No one is here for the money, but for community service,” he said. “We don’t need an increase. It’s more problem than it’s worth.”

Brian O’Malley, delegate from Provincetown, who is not a member of the finance committee, however, commented Monday that he was one of the assembly delegates who started the conversation about the salary disparity based on the work they do. “This doesn’t feel even,” he said. He recommended discussing the issue with the board of commissioners.

J. Terence Gallagher, Eastham delegate, called into the meeting from Japan Monday saying he “enjoys the fact of having health insurance.” As a self-employed person for 25 years, he also submitted a long letter explaining the benefits of the health insurance for him. He called the proposed ordinance “a cost-cutting measure masquerading as a salary increase,” saying “the total value of the proposed reduction in benefits far exceeds the proposed total increase in salary.”

Gallagher strongly opposes eliminating the benefit and said it reduces the incentives to run for office. “For the past five years, I felt taken care of, and now I do not,” he stated in the letter.

The total cost of the health insurance for five or six assembly delegates and one commissioner totals about $170,000, or about $31,000 per person. The new resolution from Potash and Chaffee states that if all the eligible members participated in the county insurance plan the cost would be $561,507.

A vote on the latest proposal to send the decision on insurance to the commissioners may take place Dec. 20.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: New salary, health insurance plan for Assembly, Commissioners deferred