Taylor City Council members voted to give themselves a pay raise Thursday, Aug. 17, in spite of several residents voicing objections during a packed special meeting.
Leaders voted 3-2 in favor of the hike after holding two back-to-back public hearings during the session.
Both the meeting room and an overflow area were filled with residents eager to either address the council or witness how they would vote.
“It doesn’t matter what you think your compensation should be,” resident Michael Prillaman said during the first public hearing. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. At the end of the day, you folks need to remember that you are elected by your constituency.”
A compensation committee appointed by the council had recommended only an increase to $250 per month for each position.
Deciding against the committee’s suggestion, the council began discussing raising stipends July 27, from $25 to $1,000 per month and to $1,500 per month for the mayor.
“$214 an hour is what you’re asking for,” resident Gary Gola said. “Y’all have met a total of 15 times this year in council meetings for 34.98 hours. At $500 a meeting, that’s $214. For the mayor, that’s $321 an hour. I don’t think any of y’all are worth that much.”
In addition, the ad hoc committee recommended an incremental allocation of the increases to take place over the next couple of election cycles.
Instead, the council opted for the new payments to begin Oct. 1.
“I would have been affected the most because I just won in November so I’m not eligible for three years,” Councilman Dwayne Ariola said.
“I’m absolutely fine with it because this is a volunteer service in my opinion.”
One Taylor resident shared his perspective as an elected leader to make his case against the ordinance. Jim Buzan, member of the Taylor Independent School District’s board of trustees, said he believes it is unethical for elected officials to set their own pay.
“You were elected knowing the sacrifice that the position would require and the compensation you would receive,” Buzan said. “Nowhere in the private sector do leaders accept their own pay.”
While almost all of the citizen speakers were against the ordinance, Councilman Gerald Anderson said he believes he voted with Taylor’s best intentions in mind.
He said increasing compensation will encourage a wider range of people to run for positions.
“I’ve had no less than three people tell me with the compensation on the table, they would run,” Anderson told the Taylor Press. “But they’re not willing to make that commitment for free and also deal with the negativity, social media bashing and people coming to the city council to tell you you’re not even worth $25 a month. It’s a lot that comes with this job.”
Councilman Mitch Drummond was in favor of increasing the salary, but thought the council should have gone with the committee’s recommendation.
“I cannot support it as written,” Drummond said before the vote. “I think we can go back with the original recommendations from the (committee) and push them through. That was a good solution.”
Drummond told the Taylor Press that he could not support an ordinance that allows elected representatives to increase their personal salaries without the buy-in of those they serve.
“Quite frankly, I felt the compensation increase we voted in unethical, maybe not in the legal sense, but by my standards,” he said.
The ordinance was introduced and the motion was made by Anderson. Councilman Robert Garcia seconded. Anderson, Garcia and Rydell voted in favor of the pay raise, while Drummond and Ariola were the two opposing votes.
