Aurora City Council and Mayor Mike Coffman made the right decision on Monday not to ask voters for pay raises, but the question before them lingers over many growing cities across the state and deserves an honest answer and assessment.
We know that many city council members in Aurora, one of the nation’s 51 largest cities, are working far more than a part-time job representing thousands of constituents across the sprawling municipality. For many Aurora residents who would consider running, the part-time salary of $22,000 makes it impossible to do the job well because holding a second job would be a necessity. Conditions are even worse in Colorado Springs, where city council members still earn what is essentially a $6,250 stipend, and in Greeley, where voters recently rejected a pay raise, keeping the salary at $12,600.
We want public office to be open to everyone, not only to the independently wealthy.
Still, we applaud the Aurora mayor and city council members for rejecting this particular pay package.
Pay raises must be commiserate with work expectations.
Voters in these cities should be asked two questions at the same time: should the job description for their city councils change to full-time with more frequent meetings and more expectations, and should the pay be increased to go along with those new hours?
City Manager Jason Batchelor, who requested the raises for his bosses, is right that the job overseeing one of the nation’s largest cities is no longer part-time, but the City Charter must change first to make the positions full-time before salaries jump from $22,700 to $75,000 for council members.
There are many issues with Aurora’s City Charter – particularly how it handles discipline, hiring and firing in the police department – and we don’t think the city should be afraid of asking voters to amend the document. In an election in 2023, voters approved several fixes to the charter.
We know many city council members work more than just the two public meetings a month, but we are also certain that many do not. The pay increase must be commiserate with an official increase of hours worked. Even elected officials need accountability. If the charter changes and council members are working a full-time job every week then we think an annual salary of $75,000 would help attract qualified and committed candidates without attracting people who are in it for the money.
As for the mayor’s salary, which would have increase from $98,500 to $150,000 annually, we have to agree with Mayor Mike Coffman that it is inappropriate.
Coffman, perhaps one of Colorado’s most honest and forthright politicians, pledged to oppose putting the measure on the ballot unless his salary increase was removed from the proposal.
“Public service is, by itself, supposed to be a sacrifice,” Coffman said.
Amen.
We appreciate the selfless people who step into the limelight to serve their community, often taking on public scrutiny and uncomfortable situations in addition to late-night meetings and campaigning. We agree that making the job full-time will generate more economically diverse candidates who can hold the position without trying to also hold a full-time job, something that today is hard to do with any kind of position that doesn’t have extreme flexibility.
The last thing we want is for public office to only be available to the affluent.
But, in the case of the mayor, we think $98,500 is a full-time salary that a person in Aurora could live on without having to maintain a second job.
We’d also like to point out that in many of these cities, elected officials are already getting cost-of-living increases annually.
People, whether elected or at-will, should be paid for the work they do. These cities are booming, and we no longer think part-time council work is sufficient to meet the needs of the community. Once the roles change, their salary should increase as well. But not before.
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