City council in giving spirit with raises, appointment
Staff reporter
Christmas came early Monday for four City of Marion employees.
After 70 minutes of executive sessions to conduct evaluations on the four employees that included the economic development position, Marion City Council decided to change the development position from contracted to appointed and give them all raises.
Mayor Martin Tice was the only vote of dissension when Stacey Collett made the motion to make Jami Williams a city employee with benefits, except health insurance, instead of a contracted worker. Collett said he would like for Williams to be in an appointed position rather than contracted because the contract stated she could quit at any time and still receive full compensation for her annual salary of $48,000.
And then, in the next breath, the commission approved a 4.1 percent cost of living raise for Williams, city administrator David Mayfield, police chief Michel Soyez, and clerk Angela Lange.
With this pay increase, Mayfield's salary will increase to nearly $60,000 per year and Williams, if it remains at $48,000 per year, will increase to nearly $50,000 per year.
Bill Holdeman and Jerry Kline were opposed to the motion made by Tice and seconded by Gene Winkler for the raises.
Following the meeting, Tice confirmed that Williams' salary would be $49,968 for 2007.
The council decided to evaluate these four positions instead of the city administrator evaluating all positions and the council evaluating Mayfield's.
Other raises have not been approved because the council has not reviewed those evaluations completed by Mayfield.
The previous commission had signed a one-year, $48,000 contract with Williams in 2005 on a one-year trial basis to see what could be accomplished in a year's time.
