Top 10: Warren pay raises draw protest, petitions

Salary adjustments come in as No. 6 story of the year

The top story from Warren City Council in 2023 was its approval of the first pay raises for elected and appointed officials in 15 years.

The ordinance, which was approved in November, set in place a series of pay raises that will increase the salaries of some Warren officials anywhere from 19% to 89%.

Under the adopted legislation, the Warren mayor's salary must be 1% higher than the base salary of the highest-paid, wage-earning employee in the city. At no time will the mayor's salary be lower than 1% above the base pay of the city's highest paid official, the ordinance states.

City police Chief Eric Merkel and fire Chief Ken Nussle each earn $95,929 per year.

According to a chart provided by city Auditor Vincent Flask, Mayor Doug Franklin will see his salary increase from $87,796 in 2023 to $98,820 in 2024 and $104,873 by 2025.

The salaries of all elected and appointed officials, such as council seats, the safety / service director, the law director and the auditor are going to have their annual salaries set based on percentages of the mayor's salary.

The salary for the law director will increase from $86,652 in 2023 to $97,822 in 2024 and $103,812 by 2025.

The auditor position's salary will increase from $80,724 in 2023 to $97,822 in 2024 and $103,812 in 2025.

The safety / service director position will see its salary increase from $82,825 to $96,844 in 2024 and $102,772 by 2025.

City council member salaries will go from $11,109 in 2023 to $19,764 in 2024 and $20,571 by 2025.

According to the document, the total increase for the city is going to be $260,145 in 2024.

Along with the pay increases, council voted to give itself "health care insurance coverage, health care insurance benefits, life insurance coverage and life insurance benefits," in accordance with current city policy.

Council Finance Chairman Greg Greathouse, D-3rd Ward, said discussions about raising pay of elected officials began several months ago when city Auditor Vince Flask and Law Director Enzo Cantalamessa sought to raise the wages of their assistants.

The assistants' salaries are a percentage of what the elected officials earn.

Cantalamessa said the law department has lost one assistant prosecutor this year and it expects to lose another at the end of 2023. The deputy law director earns $67,620 per year. Two additional assistant law director staff members each earn $64,251 per year.

When asked why not just present legislation to raise the salaries of just those in the law department, Cantalamessa questioned whether it made sense for subordinates of the law director, auditor or mayor to earn more than their superiors. He said under the current salary structure, that likely would happen eventually, as it has in the police and fire departments.

"Is that a way to do it? Yeah," he said at the time. "Does it do anything for leadership morale? No."

On Nov. 8, council voted to approve the pay raise legislation. It was adopted through an 8-2 vote.

Voting in favor of the pay adjustment legislation were Todd Johnson, I-1st Ward; Greg Greathouse, D-3rd Ward; James Shaffer, D-4th Ward; Ashley McBride, D-5th Ward; Cheryl Saffold, D-6th Ward; Ron White, D-7th Ward and at-Large Democrats Helen Rucker and Gary Steinbeck.

Andrew Herman, D-2nd Ward, and Ken MacPherson, D-at Large, voted no.

After the approval of the legislation, MacPherson signed and initiated a petition for a referendum for the pay raise legislation.

While MacPherson said he is generally in favor of pay raises, he did not approve of this specific legislation, which he called "obscene and obnoxious."

MacPherson needed 950 valid signatures of Warren registered voters to get the pay raise referendum on the ballot. Early this month, he turned in approximately 1,109 signatures.

The petitions were on display in Flask's office for 10 days before being turned over to the Trumbull County Board of Elections.

On Dec. 20, Board of Election Executive Director Stephanie Penrose sent a letter to Flask stating the petitions had 901 valid signatures of Warren voters.

Penrose's letter noted the petitions the board of elections reviewed would be returned to Flask's office within 10 days.

MacPherson, who has been leading efforts to give voters an opportunity to vote on whether these elected officials should get these raises, vows to continue the fight for a citywide vote.

"We are trying to get affidavits from people who were disenfranchised," he said. "We are just 49 short and we have over 50 challengeable signatures on the petition, and others too."