Why isn't there more diversity on the Polk Commission? Pay could be a factor, experts say

At age 62, Neil Combee is the youngest member of the Polk County Board of Commissioners.

The lack of generational diversity among the five-member elected body was a talking point during a recent commission workshop. The topic emerged as the members discussed a tricky item: Their own salaries and whether they should give themselves a modest raise in the coming months.

Polk County Commissioners, who serve a growing population of more than 700,000 residents, currently earn $45,439 a year. That rate is based on a 2000 ballot referendum overwhelmingly approved by voters that cut commissioner pay in half, making it a part-time job.

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Similar-sized counties in Florida consider the elected commission role a full-time gig, and pay their officials significantly more. Sarasota, for example, has more than half of Polk's population but pays commissioners more than twice as much: $91,821 a year.

Polk's commissioners earn less than commissioners in Flagler County, which has a population of just over 100,000.

What Polk County pays its commissioners is a reason why younger individuals don't pursue a seat and why they're typically filled by retirees, older business owners or wealthy people with ties to development, Commissioner George Lindsey said at the Nov. 29 workshop.

He makes a fair point, according to local political science and public policy experts.

"Low salaries might contribute to less people running for commission, and that would include younger people and even more broadly blue color hourly workers who have to worry about making a living," said Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida. "If you have lower salaries it does make the position a lot less attractive for people to run."

If residents want to see more diversity in its commission representation and a broader candidate pool each election cycle, the pay rate needs to be adjusted to a level that's on par with similar-sized counties, Jewett added.

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'A losing battle'

But changing the rate is never easy, nor is it popular.

Following the charter change approved by voters in 2000, county commissioners can adjust their salaries at the end of the year based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index or the general pay increase given to county employees, whichever is lower. This formula has allowed commissioners to gradually increase its pay by 20 percent since 2000, when the salary was $36,372.

If commissioners want to pursue a more drastic increase that would put its pay more in line with other counties and reinstate the full-time designation, that would require a charter change by voters during an election.

Commissioner Combee said he wouldn't vote to raise his own salary, but supports putting the matter back on a ballot.

"If we get the pay up, we might have some younger, smarter, more attractive people run for the commission," he said. "I don't want to vote to raise my pay, I don’t think it will be a bad idea to put a question on the ballot related to pay."

Commissioner Martha Santiago said she'd like to see more diversity among commission candidates and believes raising the pay would make the role more enticing.

"I'm always looking out to encourage younger generations to go into this, especially minorities," she said. "I want more diversity, different ideas, so we can continue to move this county forward. Let's raise the salary so people behind us can be motivated."

She doesn't view her position as a "part-time" job and believes that designation should change. However, she favors slight increases voted on by the body as opposed to putting a measure before voters.

"Let's keep increasing the salary based on (the charter) and then down the road we can have discussion about putting it back it on the ballot. Maybe in 2024," she told The Ledger.

Commissioner Bill Braswell is apathetic on the issue. The amount of the pay increase commissioners are able to approve each year is equal to about $50 a month, he said.

"That's what I'm about to spend on lunch today," he said. "Why even bother?"

As for putting it on the ballot — "that's a waste of time," he added.

"Getting 60 percent of voters to approve a pay increase for commissioners is virtually impossible," he said. "This is a losing battle either way."

But if voters are unwilling to take action to make the commission seat more attainable to a broader portion of the population, there's less room to complain about who ultimately occupies those seats, said Edwin Benton, a political science professor at the University of South Florida who specializes in local government policy.

"You want the commission to be representative of the entire population," he said. "You get what you pay for."

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What's next?

The Polk County Commission was slated to vote on a slight pay increase at its Dec. 14 meeting. However, Commissioner Braswell will be absent and Combee stated at a Nov. 29 workshop that he wouldn't support it.

The change requires a unanimous commission vote to pass, with all members present.

Commissioner Lindsey suggested bringing the matter back for a vote at a January or February meeting.

Any change to pay approved by the commission in 2022 wouldn't take effect until January of 2023.

Lindsey, who works in residential development, has served on the commission since 2012 and will be unable to run again in 2024 due to term limits. Before he leaves, he wants to do what he can to boost commission pay to keep the county from falling "further and further behind."

"We need to attract more people, beyond retirees, to this role," he said at the November meeting.

A South Carolina native, Dustin covers Polk County government and county-wide issues. He can be reached at dwyatt@gannett.com or on Twitter @LLDustin_Wyatt.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk Commissioners discuss an unpopular topic: Their own pay.