Trending
PARKERSBURG - Although it wouldn't take effect until a new mayor is seated in 2029, Parkersburg City Council will consider on Tuesday increasing the chief executive's salary by $35,000 a year.
"Normally it's brought up right after the election," said Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl, who is sponsoring the ordinance on first reading with Councilmen Roger Brown and Rob Moore. "We're not going to wait. We don't know who's running."
The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in council chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building.
By state law, elected officials' pay cannot be adjusted during their term in office. Kuhl said taking it up early should keep it from appearing tied to a specific person running in or winning the 2028 election.
The last time the salary for mayor was adjusted was in November 2020, when it increased from $80,000 to $90,000 a year. A proposed increase to $110,000 was not voted on in November 2024 after some residents spoke in opposition and some suggested sanitation workers should get a pay increase in addition to or instead of the mayor and council.
"I should have done it. I should have made a motion," Kuhl said Friday. "No one made a motion."
A second proposal to increase the mayor's annual compensation to $97,000 was pulled from the agenda at a December meeting.
Kuhl said the salary increase is being considered "to get quality people to run, who want to take care of our city" and not for a specific individual. Mayor Tom Joyce is limited to three consecutive terms and cannot seek reelection in 2024.
"We're hoping it brings out some serious candidates," Kuhl said.
Kuhl said it is not being proposed in conjunction with a council pay increase, something she said she would not sponsor.
"Personally, I do not think a council pay raise will come up," she said.
Also on Tuesday's agenda is the final reading of an ordinance establishing rates for the news Simms Powell Pavilion in City Park, which will include a public hearing.
Resolutions on the agenda would allocate the unappropriated surplus in the Capital Reserve Fund and reappoint Edward McDonough to the city's Audit Committee.
An ordinance on first reading would allow the city to accept conveyance of property at 714 Market St. from the Urban Renewal Authority and apply for a federal EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant.
Other ordinances on first reading would amend city code to allow at least one accessory dwelling unit on a lot or parcel containing a single-family dwelling, to reflect a new state law, and rezone property near Beamer's Auto Body on Ninth Avenue from a neighborhood to a general business district.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.