Proposed Parkersburg mayoral pay raise tabled
Parkersburg City Council President Andrew Borkowski, left, speaks with Councilman Zak Huffman before the start of Tuesday's council meeting. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Parkersburg resident Eric Engle, left, suggests City Council should look at making municipal elections non-partisan to increase the number of qualified candidates rather than increasing the salary for the mayor's position by $35,000 during Tuesday's council meeting. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Parkersburg resident Mark Hardesty speaks in opposition to a proposed raise for the Parkersburg mayor, to go into effect when a new mayor takes office in 2029. Council later voted 6-3 to table the ordinance, (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Parkersburg City Council President Andrew Borkowski, left, speaks with Councilman Zak Huffman before the start of Tuesday's council meeting. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Parkersburg resident Eric Engle, left, suggests City Council should look at making municipal elections non-partisan to increase the number of qualified candidates rather than increasing the salary for the mayor's position by $35,000 during Tuesday's council meeting. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Parkersburg resident Mark Hardesty speaks in opposition to a proposed raise for the Parkersburg mayor, to go into effect when a new mayor takes office in 2029. Council later voted 6-3 to table the ordinance, (Photo by Evan Bevins)
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PARKERSBURG - Members of City Council voted Tuesday night to table an ordinance raising the salary for the mayor's position beginning in 2029.
More than a dozen people spoke against the proposed increase from $90,000 to $125,000 a year during a public forum that lasted the better part of an hour. Council unanimously voted to extend the forum beyond the 30-minute limit so everyone who signed up to speak could do so. Multiple residents cited the area's per capita and median household incomes - $30,355 and $49,025 for 2020-2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau - and asked how city officials could justify a $35,000 a year increase. Some said the city was jumping the gun in making a decision that wouldn't take effect for more than two years.
Parkersburg resident Mark Hardesty called it "unconscionable."
"You're proposing that the mayor be paid two-and-a-half times what the median household in this city has to survive on," he said.
He suggested one or more council members might be considering a mayoral run in 2028, when Mayor Tom Joyce will be unable to run due to term limits. Anyone considering running, Hardesty said, "must vote no or at the very least abstain."
After Hardesty spoke, Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl said she was "tired of people lying on Facebook.
"I am not running for mayor," she said.
Hardesty took exception to Kuhl's remarks and tried to respond, but council President Andrew Borkowski said he had finished speaking and could not interrupt Kuhl.
Parkersburg resident Eric Engle said council should consider making municipal elections nonpartisan so federal employees working at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service could run. He said some of them might be willing to throw their hat in the ring for the current salary but added he, like Kuhl, had no interest in running for mayor.
Parkersburg resident Ray Vannoy compared the Parkersburg proposal to the salaries for mayors and populations of Charleston and Huntington, while resident Trish Pritchard said the city should consider moving to a city manager form of government.
Others said being mayor should be about public service, not making money,
"Before you vote, ask yourself, are we making public service more attractive or just making the paycheck more attractive?" Parkersburg resident Greg Sanders said.
Councilman Mike Reynolds started to make a motion to approve the ordinance but withdrew it. When some people began talking, he said he was preparing to offer an amendment.
But Kuhl made the motion to table the ordinance, which passed 6-3, with Reynolds, Borkowski and Councilman Roger Brown opposed.
Kuhl said last week she supported the measure, in part because the mayoral salary was not increased at the end of 2024. By law, elected officials' pay cannot be increased during their current term in office. Kuhl had said addressing it now would separate the issue from whoever might be running for or elected mayor and that it needed to be increased to attract quality candidates.
After Tuesday's meeting, she said she wants to do more research on mayoral salaries, including which cities had city managers and when their mayors' salaries had been increased and why,
"I'm for the pay raise," Kuhl said. "But I want to have my information to validate it."
Daniel Miller, a Vienna resident who is a Democratic candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates, said the recent shift to contracted sanitation services followed by a large pay increase for the mayor "raises eyebrows" and the decision should be made by residents.
"Allow the residents the mayor serves to vote on pay increases," he said.
Borkowski, who lost to Jeff Sandy in the Republican primary for the seat Miller is seeking, said state code dictates that council determines the mayor's salary, not a public vote.
"If you get into the House of Delegates, you can vote to change state code," he said.
West Virginia Code 8-5-12, which also prohibits elected officials' salaries being changed during their term, says a municipality's governing body shall fix salaries of employees and officers, "notwithstanding any charter provision to the contrary."
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.