[1. CALL TO ORDER]
[2. MINUTES]
[00:00:19]
ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS, SO MOVE. ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY
[3. BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT]
AYE .AS A MEMBER. I WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE.
>> SECOND. >> WE HAVE A NOMINATION FOR ELIZABETH STRING. OKAY. GO AHEAD.
>> ONCE AGAIN, WE HAD A FANTASTIC NUMBER OF CANDIDATES TO CHOOSE FROM . VERY HIGHLY QUALIFIED PEOPLE. SHE WILL DO A VERY GOOD JOB , SHE IS A LIFELONG RESIDENT AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH HER. ANYBODY ELSE? ALL IN FAVOR , PLEASE SAY AYE . THAT MOTION CARRIES, WE WILL CARRY -- AND
[4. AUBURN DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY]
CONFIRM THAT. MAYOR PRO TEM WITTEN?>> THERE ARE TWO VACANT TERMS THAT BEGIN JULY 19TH, 2025 AND END JULY 18TH, 2031 . AND I WOULD LIKE TO
>> ANY OPPOSED ? THAT MOTION CARRIES WITH ONE ABSTENTION.
>> THE SEAT CURRENTLY HELD BY MARTEE MOSELEY , I WOULD LIKE TO
NOMINATE CONNIE PACE. >> SECOND. ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? ALL IN FAVOR, SAY AYE. WE WILL CONFIRM THAT LATER ON IN THE AGENDA. I WELL SAY THANK YOU FOR SERVING ON THE DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND I APPRECIATE OUR CITIZENS
[5. COUNCIL COMPENSATION]
WHO TOOK THE TIME TO FILL OUT ORGANIZATIONS FOR BOTH OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS AND I CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO CONTINUE TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY. COUNCIL COMPENSATION, COUNCILMAN PARSONS, BEFORE I TURN IT OVER, I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR AUDIENCE IS LISTENING AND WITH US TONIGHT UNDERSTANDS THAT TONIGHT WE WILL ONLY BE HAVING A DISCUSSION, COUNCIL DOES HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DELIBERATE ON THIS TOPIC, THERE WILL BE NO FINAL DECISIONS MADE. ULTIMATELY, AT THE END OF THE SESSION, IF THE MAJORITY OF COUNTIES WOULD LIKE TO ASK STAFF TO MOVE FORWARD, PUTTING THIS ON A FUTURE AGENDA, WE WILL COMMUNICATE THAT TO THE STAFF. BUT TONIGHT IS FOR DISCUSSION.>> THE PUBLIC IS PROBABLY AWARE THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TWO WORK SESSIONS ON THIS TOPIC. AND THEN, I APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT THE CITY MANAGER'S STAFF PUT TOGETHER TO PROVIDE US WITH BOTH THE BACKGROUND OF THE HISTORY OF COMPENSATION, WITHIN THE CITY OF AUBURN. AND SOME COMPARISONS OF ALABAMA CITIES , TO SERVE AS A GUIDE, REGARDING JUST WHAT TYPE OF INCREASE WE ARE PROPOSING, OR I AM PROPOSING , AT THIS POINT. THE METHOD IN WHICH I HAVE UNDERTAKEN HERE , TO, TO COME UP WITH AN APPROPRIATE COMPENSATION FIGURE HAS BEEN THROUGH , THE FIGURES THAT HAVE BEEN PROVIDED TO US, OF OTHER CITIES, INCLUDING BIG TEN ALABAMA CITIES. AND THOSE COMPENSATIONS VARY SIGNIFICANTLY , JUST THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCES AND CITY SIZES, AND SO ON. BUT LOOKING AT THE COUNCIL SALARY , AVERAGED THROUGH THESE SHARED CITIES, IT AVERAGES OUT TO $17,122. PER YEAR. THE AUBURN CITY COUNCIL CURRENTLY RECEIVES $7200. AND THE LAST TIME THERE HAS BEEN
[00:05:04]
EVER AN ADJUSTMENT TO THE CITY COUNCIL SALARY WAS IN 2006. SO, WHAT I WOULD BE PROPOSING, FOR THE INCOMING COUNCIL OF 2026, THAT IS A 20-YEAR PAUSE , IN ANY KIND OF INCREASE TO SALARY. I WORKED FROM THE AVERAGE OF THE STATE, THE CITY HAS PROVIDED TO US, THIS $17,122, AND, WHILE I UNDERLINE THE AVERAGE, TRADITIONALLY, AUBURN HAS LEANED TO THE CONSERVATIVE SIDE OF SUCH AN AVERAGE AND I WOULD BE PROPOSING THAT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS , BE INCREASED TO $15,000 PER YEAR, WITH THE EXCEPTION , OF THE MAYOR PRO TEM POSITION, CURRENTLY , THE MAYOR PRO TEM IN THIS COUNCIL, WE CAN BALLPARK IT, THERE IS AN EXTRA TIME COMMITMENT OF AT LEAST 20%. SO, ON THAT FIGURE, I WOULD PROPOSE THAT THE MAYOR PRO TEM RECEIVED $18,000 PER YEAR. I WANT TO ALSO LET YOU KNOW THAT I DID A COMPARISON OF THE ALABAMA BIG TEN CITIES, OF WHICH AUBURN IS NUMBER SEVEN IN SIZE, AND THAT AVERAGE FOR COUNCIL SALARY IS $24,240. SO, WE ARE ON THE CONSERVATIVE SIDE OF THAT AVERAGE, IN MY PROPOSAL. AND WITH THAT, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO ENTERTAIN QUESTIONS OR OPEN IT UP TO OTHER MEMBERS TO CONTRIBUTE.>> BOB, I APPRECIATE YOUR LEADERSHIP AND YOUR DESIRE TO BRING THIS FORWARD IN A CONVERSATION. AGAIN, I APPRECIATE THE STAFF AND ALL THE TIME IT TOOK TO PUT THIS INFORMATION TOGETHER. AS MR. PARSONS STATED, THIS HAS NOT BEEN DISCUSSED OR CHANGED SINCE 2006 , THE POPULATION IN THE CITY WAS WELL OVER $50,000 , THE 2010 CENSUS HAD US AT 54,000 I BELIEVE, DAVID, YOU CAN TELL ME IF I AM RIGHT OR WRONG BUT THAT IS ABOUT WHAT IT WAS. AND TODAY, I WOULD COMFORTABLY STAND IN FRONT OF ANY GROUP AND SAY, YOU KNOW, OUR POPULATION IS AROUND 84,000 , 85,000 THAT IS 30,000 MORE CITIZENS THAT LIVE IN AUBURN, 30,000 MORE CITIZENS THAT HAVE NEEDS. OUR STUDENT POPULATION HAS INCREASED FROM 2006, 24,000, TO TODAY, THIS FALL, AUBURN WILL ACCEPT A CLASS IN A MATTER OF WEEKS OF JUST OVER 34,000, THAT NUMBER IS QUITE CLOSE . OF THOSE 30,000 NEW RESIDENTS , 10 OF THOSE WERE STUDENTS . THIS CITY IS 64,000 SQUARE MILES, IT HAS 747 MILES OF STREETS AND 197 MILES OF SIDEWALKS , AND 14 PARKS, AND WE GO THROUGH 3.3 BILLION GALLONS OF WATER AND WE COLLECT 17,800 TONS OF GARBAGE, THOSE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE STATISTICS, IN 2006 , SOCIAL MEDIA WAS SORT OF BEGINNING, IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF COMMUNICATION. I BELIEVE THIS NEEDED TO BE EVALUATED AND THE COUNCIL DESERVED TO BE PAID MORE THAN THEY ARE PAID NOW, PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO BE SEEN AND BE TALKED TO. AND EVERYONE UP HERE, THEIR HEART IS IN THE RIGHT PLACE, YOU ARE VERY COMMITTED TO YOUR WORDS, THERE IS JUST MORE NOW TO DO THEN THERE USED TO BE, AND I BELIEVE IT IS FAIR TO LOOK AT PAYING OUR COUNCIL MORE MONEY. BOB BROUGHT UP THE BIG TEN, YOU LOOK AT THE CITIES THAT ARE BELOW AUBURN IN THE BIG TEN, DECATUR PAYS THEIR COUNSEL $21,000, DURBIN PAYS $21,000 AND MADISON PAYS $20,000. WE ARE CURRENTLY , OUR SEARS -- SISTER CITY, NEXT DOOR, THERE POPULATION IS AROUND 35,000 . SO, I CERTAINLY BELIEVE THE STATS AND THE DATA JUSTIFIES AUBURN EVALUATING THIS AND STRONGLY LOOKING AT AN INCREASE, AND I WILL CERTAINLY BE VOTING FOR AN INCREASE, ENCOURAGING AN INCREASE TONIGHT, EXCUSE ME, THAT WAS THE WRONG TERMINOLOGY. ANYONE ELSE?
>> ASIDE FROM THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED , WITH
[00:10:06]
RELATION TO HOW THINGS CHANGED, AND THE WAY THAT THE ROLES OF COUNCILMEMBERS HAVE CHANGED, IF YOU SIMPLY APPLY AN ADJUSTED GROSS INFLATION TO THE COUNCIL SALARY OF $7200, AND IN 2006, UP TO TODAY , YOU BRING AN ADJUSTED GROSS SALARY OF ROUGHLY $13,000.SO , THAT IS , THAT'S NOT EVEN TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT SOME OF THESE OTHER ISSUES THAT RON AND BOB HAVE BROUGHT UP. SO. BASED ON THAT, I AM IN FAVOR OF MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS AS WELL.
>> MR. MAYOR, IS THERE ANY KIND OF MECHANISM WE CAN PUT IN PLACE THAT WOULD MAKE SURE WE DO NOT GO 20 MORE YEARS WITHOUT KIND OF CONSIDERING THIS AGAIN? I KNOW, YOU CANNOT LOOK AT THIS EVERY FOUR YEARS, POSSIBLY. A BIENNIUM BUDGET OR SOMETHING, WE CAN AT LEAST HAVE A CONVERSATION AND TALK ABOUT AS A POLICY
STANDPOINT ? >> IT IS JUST A SUGGESTED POLICY, YOU CANNOT COMPEL THE NEXT COUNCIL TO REVIEW IT. YOU CAN ONLY SUGGEST. TYPICALLY WE HAVE CROSSOVER, I FIGURE IT WOULD BE INCUMBENT TO SAY, WE SHOULD LOOK AT THIS, WHETHER OR NOT THEY WANT TO MAKE A MOVE, IT HAS COME UP OFF AND ON OVER THIS 20-YEAR PERIOD. ANY DEPENDS ON WHETHER THAT IS COMING UP , IF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE HAVING A CONVERSATION OR IF IT COMES UP AT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AND IT CERTAINLY DID, TWO COUNCIL TERMS AGO, WELL, ACTUALLY LAST COUNCIL TERM, I'M SORRY. IT CAME UP, IT DID NOT PASS. SO, YEAH, THE INTENTIONALITY BY THE COUNCIL, IF THEY WANT TO REVIEW IT.
>> WELL, I JUST WANT TO THANK BOB FOR PUTTING TOGETHER A PROPOSAL. AND , I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT FUTURE COUNCILS , THIS A HAS GROWN IN WEALTH, TECHNOLOGY, THE ROLES THAT THE COUNCIL PLAYS, THE PRO TEM AND EVEN MAYOR PLAY, I , TOO, AM IN FAVOR OF THE INCREASE, MOVING FORWARD.
>> THANK YOU. YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING BOB SAID AND I WANT TO REPEAT. THIS WOULD ONLY COME INTO PLAY FOR THE NEXT COUNCIL , THAT WOULD BE ELECTED NEXT AUGUST. AND, SO, ONCE THAT COUNCIL IS SEATED IN EARLY NOVEMBER, 2026, WOULD THIS COME
INTO PLAY. >> IF I MAY JUST ADD ONE MORE THING I DIDN'T MENTION. I WAS MOTIVATED TO, TO TAKE THIS TO WHERE WE ARE NOW. FOR ALL THE REASONS THAT YOU SPOKE ABOUT, ONE OTHER REASON THAT MOTIVATED ME , IS THE FACT THAT THIS INCREASE IS SOME KIND OF SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME FOR A PERSON WHO WOULD CHOOSE WHAT THEY -- PUT THEIR HAT IN THE RING TO BECOME AN ELECTED OFFICIAL. AND I THINK THAT INCREASING THE COMPENSATION , PERHAPS , HAS THE ADDED BENEFIT OF HAVING OTHER PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY, WHO MIGHT, WHO MIGHT NOT BE IN A POSITION FINANCIALLY TO TAKE ON THE ROLE OF AN ELECTED OFFICIAL, THAT THIS MAY HELP BROADEN THE APPLICANT POOL AND -- IN
REELECTION. >> ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANYTHING
THEY WOULD LIKE TO ADD? >> YES, MAYOR. I AM NOT IN FAVOR OF A PAY RAISE. I RESPECT EVERYONE'S VIEWS AND THEY MAKE A COMPELLING ARGUMENT. I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT. HOWEVER , I TAKE THIS JOB VERY SERIOUS. BORN AND RAISED HERE. THE GOOD FOLKS OF AUBURN GAVE ME A JOB, WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, AIN'T MUCH I CAN DO OTHER THAN GIVE MY TIME AND THOUGHTS. I FEEL LIKE I KEEP THIS COMMUNITY SAFE SINCE 1987. AND I GUESS Y'ALL WANT A RAISE BUT I SIMPLY AM NOT IN FAVOR OF ONE, I WOULD DO IT FOR
[00:15:04]
FREE. I LOVE WHAT AUBURN HAS DONE FOR ME. IT IS MY PLEASURE TO SERVE. IF YOU ARE DOING IT FOR THE MONEY, YOU ARE DOING IT FOR THE WRONG REASONS. IF YOU ARE DOING IT FOR THE MONEY, YOU ARE DOING IT FOR THE WRONG REASONS. AND I JUST, I JUST CANNOT SAY ENOUGH , THIS IS MY SMALL WAY OF GIVING BACK TO THE>> I AGREE WITH CHIEF DAWSON, A LOT OF OTHER COMPARISONS TO OTHER CITIES, FRANKLY, I DO NOT CARE WHAT OTHER CITIES DO, I THINK AUBURN IS SPECIAL AND UNIQUE . I WOULD BE DOING THIS FOR FREE. IN FACT, I THOUGHT IT WAS FOR FREE. BUT , I DON'T REALLY WANT SOMEBODY REPRESENTING ME, WHO IS INCENTIVIZED BY MONEY. SO, I DO NOT THINK THIS IS NECESSARY AT
THIS TIME . >> ANYONE ELSE? OKAY. COUNCIL.
BASED ON LISTENING TO MOST OF YOU, IS THE COUNCIL OKAY WITH MOVING FORWARD AND ASKING THE STAFF ? WOULD THIS BE A
RESOLUTION OR ORDINANCE? >> RESOLUTION.
>> IT WOULD BE A RESOLUTION ON A FUTURE AGENDA, THAT WOULD PUT A FUTURE PAYMENT SALARY OF A COUNCILMEMBER $15,000 AND THE MAYOR PRO TEM SALARY BEING $18,000.
>> I THOUGHT YOU SAID $17,000 FOR THE COUNCIL.
>> 15 AND 18. >> 17 WAS THE AVERAGE.
>> 17 WAS THE AVERAGE. >> I WOULD LIKE TO BE ON THE
RECORD OPPOSING. >> ALL RIGHT , I BELIEVE WE HAVE A MAJORITY, SO THIS WILL APPEAR ON AN AGENDA.
>> LET ME CLARIFY, BOOTH, DAWSON, AND COUNCIL NUMBER GRISWOLD WANT TO BE ON THE RECORD AS OPPOSED, THAT WILL BE SEVEN ON THE RECORD IN FAVOR, WE WANT TO BE SURE WITH ALL OF YOU.
IT IS UP TO YOU, AS TO EIGHT DATE . YOU HAVE A DEADLINE I THINK IT IS LONG ABOUT FEBRUARY . WE HAVE TO DO THIS BY FEBRUARY, WE NEED TO KNOW WHEN YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS ON AN AGENDA, WE HAVE MAJOR THINGS GOING. THE BUDGET WILL NOT GO TO THE 13TH. IT DOESN'T HELP TO KNOW THAT WE CAN ALWAYS ADJUST THE BUDGET. WE DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE IT IN THERE RIGHT NOW, IN TERMS OF THAT. SO, IT IS REALLY ONE YOU WANT -- WHEN YOU WANT TO
TAKE THIS UP ON AN AGENDA. >> WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT
FOR A WHILE. >> THE AGENDA ITEM WOULD BE SIMPLE, CENTERING THE SALARY -- SETTING THE SALARY TO THE AMOUNT , YOU HAVE UNTIL THE AGENDA ITEM TO DO WHATEVER YOU WISH, THAT HAPPENED WHAT -- WAS WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME, IT IS WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO IF YOU WANT TO GET INTO THE NEXT FISCAL
YEAR, WE CAN DO THAT. >> I WOULD SUGGEST WE MOVE FORWARD EITHER IN TWO WEEKS OR THE FIRST MEETING IN AUGUST.
>> YOU GUYS TELL ME. >> IS THERE A LEGAL ADVERTISING REQUIREMENT THIS NEXT MEETING ?
SPEAKERS ] >> I CAN PUT IT ON THE NEXT MEETING, IF YOU ARE NOT READY, WE CAN POSTPONE IT, IT WILL BE $15,000 PER YEAR FOR CITY COUNCILMEMBERS. AND FOR WHOEVER
[6. QUESTIONS ON THE AGENDA]
THE MAYOR PRO TEM IS, $18,000. >> OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME , ANY QUESTIONS ON TONIGHT'S AGENDA FOR THE CITY MANAGERS ? CITY MANAGERS, ANYTHING FOR US, WE MOVE TO ADJOURN THE
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.