POUGHKEEPSIE – The Poughkeepsie Common Council voted on Monday night to increase the salaries of its members by almost 67 percent. The resolution did not include a pay raise for the mayor’s post.
The majority of the board voted in favor of the resolution with Chris Petsas and Sarah Brannen voting against it. Councilwoman Yvonne Flowers was absent from the meeting.
Petsas questioned the timing of the vote noting that the Salary Review Commission had submitted their recommendations on February 14, 2019, and the council had repeatedly delayed acting on the report.
Petsas was irritated saying that it was 40 days before the election and some of the members that were voting for the raise were also running unopposed for a new term in January.
“When I decided to run for council person six years ago, I didn’t run for the money involved in it. I didn’t think about the extra money or the healthcare, I was thinking of what I can do for my neighborhood, how we could improve the city, how we could get things fixed and going in the right direction,” he said. “If the salary of the council person was zero dollars six years ago or zero dollars next year, I am still going to run for that seat in the first ward.”
Brannen echoed the remarks offered by Petsas regarding the timing. “My conscience dictates that I cannot support this resolution.”
Councilwoman Lorraine Johnson challenged the members of the public that decried the increase, saying “If you think you can do a better job, come on up here.” Johnson also professed her love of public service, saying “Money can’t buy what I love doing for the city.”
Councilman Matthew McNamara was adamant in his support for the raises, noting that the issue was going to have to be addressed at some point. McNamara also expressed his displeasure with the resolution that failed to address the salary for the mayor. “I hope it’s not some type of political stunt.” Sarah Salem, the current second ward representative who is seeking to become the councilmember-at-large in November remarked that when first taking office, she didn’t realize that the position drew a salary.
Speaking to the resolution, Salem did not indicate support for the bill but cast a “yes” vote when called. Salem, if elected to the at-large position would see a salary increase of 177 percent, going from $9,000 to $22,500 starting January 1.
The city charter, revised in 2016, created a Salary Review Commission that was tasked with recommending a revised salary structure. The charter also called for the salary of the council member-at-large to be paid no less than one-and-a-half times that of a council member.
Several months ago the council put forth a resolution calling for the salaries to be increased from $9,000 annually to $15,000. The at-large member will be compensated at $22,500 annually. The charter revision also created a full-time mayor as of January of 2018.
Council members have previously said that Mayor Rob Rolison has been working full-time since taking office but is still paid $25,000 yearly.
The original resolution, debated months ago, called for the mayor’s salary to be set at $83,000 per year. That resolution was pulled and subsequently amended. Council Chairwoman Ann Finney said that the salary for the mayor was not included in the latest resolution because the board members couldn’t agree on a salary for the position.
Councilwoman Natasha Cherry has asked that the mayor’s salary be addressed next month and Finney agreed to place it on the agenda. Monday’s resolution did not indicate the actual effective date, which was corrected by Cherry through an amendment, setting the date as January 1, 2020.
