Mayoral Salary

[GRCentro]

This topic is slightly dated, but worth the discussion never-the-less:

No Pay Raise for Mayor

It's about time Grand Rapids has a full-time mayor...with full-time compensation. Heartwell undoubtedly deserves a bigger check for the time and effort he puts into his job. He intially asked for $85,000, the Local Officers Compensation Commission recomended $60,000, and the City Commission denied both. It's unforchunate that the request falls on deaf ears becuase it came right after the enormous city budget cuts. It is very untimely...but why then does the Comptroller still get a raise?

[peaceloveunderstanding]

why does GR need a full time mayor? There are much bigger cities with non-full-time mayors.

[Rizzo]

The fact is, he is a full-timer... Correct me if I am wrong, but I heard he works 80 hours/week or so...

[peaceloveunderstanding]

wow, what does he do? Maybe the mayor in GR has more responsibilities then the mayors of other cities.

[Rizzo]

"George Heartwell Is

An ordained minister who directs the Community Leadership Institute at Aquinas College, Heartwell has had careers in business (President of Heartwell Mortgage Corporation) and ministry to the homeless (Pastor of Heartside Ministry). Heartwell also served eight years on the Grand Rapids City Commission, distinguishing himself as a strong voice for sustainable business and economic development and a thoughtful advocate for the poor. As the current Chairman of The Rapid

[daniel nudnik]

George Heartwell is a tireless worker, he never rests in serving his community. He goes above and beyond the call of duty to attend to every possible care and concern of residents.

All the same I don't know what I think about the pay raise. I'd like a pay raise, I'm a hard worker. On the other hand, maybe it's for a long term legacy thing. Perhaps he's trying to make it possible for a GR mayor to be a leader and a family man at the same time. That's hard to do, working 80 hours a week helping to run a city of 200+k people. Still, he should know better than to ask for 53% more money in an economic down cycle like this, in than in the wake of privatization, museum defunding, etc. That's embarrassing.

No harm done I guess.

[egrguy]

i agree in that he really didnt go about it in the right way like logie did by excusing himself of the job.

but i do agree that the mayor deserves a raise and should be a full time position. unlike detroit i think that grand rapids has had some recent mayors that have placed the city's interests first and have done a great job.

[Rizzo]

"unlike detroit," Ohh God, I can here them now.....

Its not like this 30 or so thousand is going to heart the city, havent we given raises to other positions during this time?

[Wm Tingley]

Hi, GRCentro.

>>Heartwell undoubtedly deserves a bigger check for the time and effort he puts into his job.<<

I disagree.

The City Charter clearly establishes the mayor's office (to the extent that it's distinct from that of an ordinary city commissioner) as a ceremonial one. That Logie and now Heartwell want to make the office into something different without amending the City Charter should not be abetted through a backdoor process of giving the mayor a huge raise to make it worth his while to take on non-charter activities. It is a slap in the face of the voters who rejected in 2003 amending the City Charter to formally change the mayor's office to the designs of Logie and Heartwell.

Moreover, the Local Officers Compensation Commission is a sneaky way to increase the mayor's salary. Its decisions are automatic UNLESS the City Commission acts to veto them. Furthermore, the LOCC is not accountable to the voters and is staffed with people who have agendas with the city government, including city contractors. If our elected officials want a raise, they should make a resolution and have an up-or-down vote on it.

Regards, Bill

[Rizzo]

Interesting take Bill, welcome to the forums!

[Wm Tingley]

Thanks for the welcome, Rizzo.

Regards, Bill