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As of 2 p.m. Thursday, Warren Councilman Ken MacPherson and a small army of comrades had collected 1,037 signatures on petitions that he hopes will trigger a referendum vote to rescind the large pay raises approved last month for city officials.
They had a few more hours to go.
MacPherson wasn't shy about sharing his opposition to the raises during public discussions and subsequent votes of city council members. And after it passed Nov. 8, MacPherson immediately announced he would attempt to have voters rescind it.
Good.
We are pleased that at least a few members of council realize how improper it is to grant such large raises to officials paid by tax dollars, particularly when so many of the Warren taxpayers live below poverty level.
MacPherson, D-At Large, and Councilman Andrew Herman, D-2nd Ward, voted no.
Voting in favor of the raises were council members Todd Johnson, I-1st Ward; Greg Greathouse, D-3rd Ward; James Shaffer, D-4th Ward; Ashley Miner-McBride, D-5th Ward; Cheryl Saffold, D-6th Ward; Ron White, D-7th Ward; and at-Large Democrats Helen Rucker and Gary Steinbeck.
We consistently used this space to oppose the raises. While we understand there comes a time when city leaders deserve a raise, we doubt any public servant ever would deserve an increase of this volume -- council members, for instance, will see an 89% jump as soon as their new terms begin in January. This is Warren, after all, where constituents footing the bill are earning a median income per household of $30,377. More than 30% of Warren residents live below the federal poverty level.
We oppose the raises not only because they are so large, but also because they forever will be tied inextricably to labor contracts and pay rates of city employees, on which city official pay rates will be based.
Here is how it will work.
According to the proposed legislation, the mayor's salary must remain 1% higher than the base salary of the highest paid city employee. The pay rates of many other elected and appointed city officials will be set as a percentage of the mayor's salary.
The legislation boosted salaries anywhere between about 19% to 89%. In all, the raises will cost Warren taxpayers more than $260,145 in 2024 alone. And each time the highest paid city worker gets a raise, so will all our elected officials.
Here is a quick summary of just a sampling of the raises. City police Chief Eric Merkel and fire Chief Ken Nussle are the highest paid city employees, each earning $95,929 per year. Mayor Doug Franklin currently earns $87,796 per year. Increasing the mayor's salary to 1% more than the chiefs' would boost Franklin to $98,820 in 2024 and $104,873 by 2025, according to Warren Auditor Vince Flask. City safety service director, currently Eddie Colbert, now will make 98% of the mayor's salary. Colbert earns $84,489. If the proposal passes, his salary would increase 22% within two years to $102,775.
The city auditor will earn 99% of the mayor's salary, and the deputy auditor director would earn 95% of the auditor's salary. Flask currently earns $86,652 per year. City law director now will earn 99% of the mayor's salary; deputy law directors will earn 95% of the law director's salary; and assistant law directors will earn 90% of the law director's pay rate.
Council members will see the largest percentage increase. They now will earn no less than 20% of the mayor's salary, or $20,974 each. That's $9,865 more than each currently earns -- $11,109.93 per year. The increase would mean 89% increases in pay for each part-time council member.
It's unclear whether the petitions will be accepted, and MacPherson on Thursday said his team planned to spend the evening verifying the information, hoping to head off any potential technical errors that could trigger rejection of the petitions. If that happened, there would be no second chance because according to Ohio law, ballot issue petitions for referendums intended to rescind council legislation must be submitted within 30 days of the vote. Today is the 30th day.
MacPherson was hopeful that by this morning, the group would have collected even more signatures shoring up their goal, and be ready to deliver them to the auditor's office by late morning.
For the most part, he did not plan to collect any more signatures today; however, if a constituent who has not yet signed feels so strongly about this issue, he or she may contact MacPherson this morning, and he will make arrangements to meet to obtain the signatures. MacPherson may be reached at 330-219-3564.
Editor’s note: This editorial has been corrected to accurately reflect that Todd Johnson is an independent (non-party) Warren Councilman.