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WARREN – Voters in the city sent a message in Tuesday’s general election that they are against automatic pay raises for Warren officials.
Unofficial and incomplete results on Tuesday had 72% of the voters supporting a ballot issue to repeal the raises, eliminate the automatic escalators and reform the system so that voters have the final say.
The ballot initiative that voters decided on would see the huge pay raises for council members repealed and salaries set at $16,500 per year. The initiative also sets fixed salaries for the mayor, law director, auditor and treasurer. Any future increases will require voter approval.
Former Warren at-Large councilman Ken MacPherson said he was surprised the percent who voted to repeal the raises wasn’t closer to 90%. He said the “outrageous amounts” and the automatic pay increases struck taxpayers the wrong way.
MacPherson said during his time on council and before leaving in 2023, he was against the pay raise legislation when it was passed.
It has been about 3 1/2 months since MacPherson succeeded in getting a referendum on the ballot to repeal the council raises, replace those with something smaller and require any future wage increases for council or the other nine public officials to be approved by voters instead of happening automatically.
When the referendum made the ballot in late July, MacPherson said ballot language can sometimes be confusing, so he issued a news release stating that he wanted it to be “crystal clear with the voters: a YES vote means less money for politicians.”
MacPherson also stated that the referendum does not affect the city’s union contracts, collective bargaining or the pay of “city workers, police officers or firefighters.”
Councilman Greg Greathouse, D-3rd Ward, said he will wait until the election results are certified before making a comment. He said he is also interested in seeing how the voters of the 3rd Ward, which he represents, voted on the issue.
Greathouse wrote a letter to the Tribune Chronicle, responding to criticisms about city council members earning about $20,000 a year for attending council meetings.
“Meetings are but a small part of it. The rest of the month is filled with meetings, emails, texts and phone calls from residents with questions about city services or problems with the water and streets,” Greathouse stated.
He added, “We are in touch with city departments, looking into issues and working out solutions with the public. A council member does not clock out when the meeting is over. To label the position part-time simply because there is no 40-hour week is a convenient way to make the compensation seem excessive. But it is not an honest appraisal of the work. If your councilperson is only working ‘part time,’ you voted for the wrong person.”
Greathouse has argued that the pay raises should remain, saying that the issue is more complicated than current salary amounts and that council members' pay was frozen for 15 years prior to the raises being approved in 2023.
Greathouse also responded to being asked to leave a voting site Tuesday where the pay raise issue was being voted upon. Greathouse said he is a poll worker and is seated where people come to vote. He said he was nowhere near any election ballots. Greathouse said he spent the rest of his day in Howland.
He said he said he understands being asked to leave in an effort to mitigate the appearance of any impropriety.
Greathouse said he was working at a polling location in his precinct that he has done for years but understood the decision by election officials.