On a night that saw the Everett Board of Aldermen vote to approve a combined $161 million in city spending for FY 2014, the Board voted against two motions to increase salaries and tabled another. The combined impact of the three proposed pay increases would have amounted to $59,000 in additional spending annually.
Essentially, the board voted to deny a $2,000 pay raise to the Clerk of the Common Council, based partly on the board’s assessment that the part-time position with responsibility to the outgoing Common Council would not merit the pay increase.
The Board also voted to delay making a decision on a proposed salary adjustment for the Clerk of Committees from $27,000 annually to $30,000, an increase of $3,000 per year.
The board instead asked that the City Solicitor draft language to include Clerk of Committees position in the city’s salary schedule by ordinance, in time for its next meeting.
In a move that may have been as much about politics as fiscal conservatism, the board also voted against raises for the Everett School Committee.
Prior to the vote, Alderman Joseph McGonagle, referencing a letter that was sent by Aldermanic President Sal Sachetta to Everett Police Chief Steven Mazzie, accused school committee members of bullying Aldermanic President Sachetta after a May 29 finance committee hearing (see related story).
Though there was no opportunity for members of the School Committee to respond to the accusations, the board appeared to be sending a message to the School Committee that they did not approve of the alleged behavior.
The proposed salary increase for the School Committee would’ve allowed each of the 9-members to receive bumps on their stipends from $5,500 per year, to $11,500 annually. The overall cost of the increase for the school committee members would have accounted for $54,000 annually in the school budget.