Time for a raise? Marco Islanders to vote on City Council pay, title change to mayor

Marco Islanders will vote in March on increasing pay for city council members and a title change for council chairman to mayor and vice chairman to vice mayor.Marco Island City Council voted Monday night to add the changes to the city's charter to the presidential preference primary scheduled for March 19. Any changes to the charter must be given to voters to determine.

First pay increase for council members since 1997

Council voted 5-2 to add a pay increase to the ballot. Council members Erik Brechnitz and Joe Rola opposed the move.

If approved by voters, council members would see a pay increase that coincides with the general wage adjustment city employees receive beginning with the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Current Council Chairman Jared Grifoni won't be eligible to run for office again after his current term so he would not see the pay increase. Board members who are eligible for re-election would face another election before a pay increase would kick in.

"This is the same value adjusted for inflation – same value as the original founders gave to the council," asked Councilwoman Becky Irwin.

The pay proposed in the city's charter that was adopted in 1997 has remained the same.

"This would bring the current salary equivalent to what the founders of the city and the voters who adopted the charter at that point deemed appropriate," Irwin said.

Council members' salaries have been $6,000 a year and the chairman's salary has been $9,000 since Marco Island became a city. If approved by voters, council members will make $11,500 a year and the chairman (or mayor if changed) would make $17,200 a year starting with fiscal year 2026-2027.

Rola and Brechnitz said they didn't think a $5,000 pay increase was going to make a difference in the candidate pool for city council.

"I think this is a public service job," Brechnitz said. "I think the compensation has absolutely nothing to do with why I’m here. … What’s the end game? What’s this supposed to accomplish? For an extra $5,000 a year, you're somehow going to get more qualified candidates? I don’t think so."

Council member Greg Folley said the pay increase should be considered.

The voters might turn this down, which is fine with me, but I think it should go to the voters," he said.

Chairman to mayor title change

Grifoni proposed a title change only in December after Brechnitz's proposal for a "weak mayor" form of government where voters elect a mayor did not get the board's support.

If approved by voters, Marco Island's mayor would be elected for a one-year term each year by the council – as chairman is now – and have the same duties and power, which is the same as all the other council members. Grifoni originally proposed a two-year term, but the majority of council members preferred to keep it the same as the chairman term is now.

"I like being able to say not one single thing changes except the title. I can’t see any reason this would hurt the community," said Councilman Darrin Palumbo.

Council members have said they believe the title of mayor gives Marco Island more cachet, especially when dealing with other municipalities and state government.

"I think this form of government suits the community very well," Grifoni said. "I do think the simplicity of the title change actually does provide some type of benefit."

Folley said he has heard from residents who fear that having a mayor will change how Marco Island operates.

"People were concerned that it is a step toward something else. And that something else can never happen unless the voters vote on this," he said.

Adding powers or making mayor an elected position would require another change to the city's charter, and therefore, another vote by residents.

"There’s an assumption that someone will respect us more if we change the title from chairman to mayor," Councilman Joe Rola said. "This is coming from some city councilors. It’s not coming from the public. I didn’t see the public jumping up and down for this."

Council approved the motion to add the matter to the March ballot 6-1 with Rola voting against it.

City Council approves Health Freedom Bill of Rights

Also Monday, the City Council voted unanimously to approve a Health Freedom Bill of Rights to prevent a repeat of the health mandates forced on the U.S. starting in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and the world.

Proposed by Folley, Marco Island's ordinance focuses on healthcare and says it's purpose "is to safeguard the healthcare rights and freedoms of the City of Marco Island residents."

The order does the following:

• Prohibits the city or any business in the city from requiring documentation of Covid-19 vaccination.

• Prohibits a private employer within the city from imposing a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for any full-time, part-time, or contract employee without providing individual exemptions that allow an employee to opt out of such requirement on the basis of medical reasons, including, but not limited to, pregnancy or anticipated pregnancy; religious reasons; COVID-19 immunity; periodic testing; and the use of employer-provided personal protective equipment.

• Prohibits an employer from imposing a policy that prohibits an employee from choosing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

• Prohibits vaccine mandates for city employees unless approved by a supermajority of City Council.

• Prohibits mask mandates, quarantine and vaccine passports unless approved by a supermajority.

• Marco Island won't recognize the authority of the World Health Organization or any other international body to impose health mandates or directives unless compelled by Federal and State law.

• Adopts Florida’s Patient’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.

Collier County declared itself a "Bill of Rights sanctuary" through an ordinance that defines "any federal act, law, order, rule, or regulation, which violates or unreasonably restricts, impedes, or impinges upon" a person's Constitutional rights as unlawful, making any such act "null, void and of no effect in Collier County."

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Earlier: Is a mayor coming to Marco Island? Council elects chair and vice chair, talks about raise

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Marco Island residents to vote on city council pay raise, mayor title