Oregon daily emerald., October 11, 1999, Page 5A, Image 5

Mayor, City Council seeking compensation
■ The Eugene City Council
and mayor could begin to
receive payment for serving
their terms
By Darren Freeman
Oregon Daily Emerald
City councilors help make
some of Eugene’s most important
decisions, but a spot on the
council is the lowest-paying job
in town.
“The City Council and mayor
have never been paid in the his
tory of Eugene,” Councilor David
Kelly said.
But the council wants to
change that history. It voted
unanimously Sept. 8 to place a
measure in the May 2000 prelim
inary election that will propose
amending the city charter to al
low the payment of council
members.
The council will appoint a
committee of seven Eugene citi
zens to write a draft of the mea
sure, which will include a spe
cific dollar amount council
members might be paid. The
committee’s draft will then go
before the council for review and
revision. If the amendment pass
es, the changes won’t be enacted
until January 2001.
The Eugene City Charter pro
hibits the payment pf council
members and the mayor, imply
ing that holding the elected posi
tions is a civic responsibility. But
many council members said the
rule limits potential candidates
because most people can’t afford
to work the long hours without
pay.
“You have to be pretty well
employed or retired to serve on
Calendar
Monday, Oct. 11
Martha Lidia Godinez Miran
da, an activist for women’s rights
and social justice in Guatemala,
will speak at 7 p.m. in the Ben
Linder Room in the EMU. The
event is sponsored by the Human
Rights Alliance and the Commit
tee in Solidarity with the Central
American People.
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council,” Councilor Gary Ray or
said.
Kelly, who said he has cut his
software consulting workload by
80 percent to be on the council,
said he feels paying council
members would improve city
council representation by in
creasing the number of qualified
candidates.
The measure will likely pro
pose council members receive a
stipend or honorarium, instead
of wages, from the city's general
fund, said Mary Walston, council
public and government affairs
manager.
Some council members feel a
small monthly stipend in the
hundreds of dollars would be ap
propriate, while others feel mem
bers should receive up to half of
the average yearly income of Eu
gene residents to make serving
on the city council financially
feasible.
“[City Council] is more than a
full-time job, which makes it ex
ceedingly difficult to hold down
other jobs,” Councilor Scott
Meisner said.
Meisner is now looking for a
1 r
full-time job and has received
two offers he’ll likely turn down
because they’re conditional upon
his resignation from the time
commitments of his current seat.
Councilor Betty Taylor worked
previously as a teacher and said
it would be impossible for her to
go back to work while serving on
the council.
“We do a great deal of work,”
Taylor said. “It’s a little excessive
for volunteer work.”
The eight-member council,
which sets policy guidelines for
the city, meets Mondays from 5
p.m. to as late as 10 p.m. and
Wednesdays from 5:30 p.m. to
7:30 p.m. Council members also
spend time on committees,
preparing reports for council
meetings, attending meetings
with government officials and
constituents and fielding letters,
e-mails and telephone calls from
constituents. Council members
say they spend anywhere be
tween 15 and 40 hours per week
working for the city.
The mayor keeps an even more
rigorous schedule than council
members.
“I’m usually awake at 5:30 in
the morning, and I’m up late,”
Mayor James Torrey said. “Fortu
nately, I don’t need a lot of
sleep.”
Torrey, who also owns and
manages his own communica
tions company, said he works 50
hours per week for the city and
averages only five hours of sleep
each night.
But if the city charter amend
ment passes, Torrey said he
would most likely donate his
payment to support various city
projects.
"I didn’t ask people to com
pensate me while I ran, and I
won’t ask people to compensate
me now that I have the job,” Tor
rey said.
However, Torrey said he be
lieves that paying city council
members would most likely in
crease the number of potential
candidates and he supports the
proposed measure for that rea
son.
“If they need it to serve in the
capacity of mayor or city coun
cilor, I have no problem with
that,” he said.
adapted from Shakespeare’s
As You Like It
by Susann Suprenant
Arena Theatre
October 6,7,8,9,14,15 & 16
eight o’clock
UT EMU
Box Office Ticket Office
346-4191 346-4363
ARIES
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Measure 20-25
Safer Communities
If approved by voters, during the first fiscal year Measure 20-25 would pay for enforcement
programs, address gaps in the community safety system, and address the needs of youth
and jamdies.
How Does it Address Gaps
in the Community Safety
System?
If approved by voters, Measure 20-25 would pay for
• Area Information Records System (AIRS) — Replaces 30-year-old computer system
used by police, corrections, 911, and municipal courts
• County Community Safety Programs and Services - Replaces income lost to Lane
County that currently pays for community safety programs in Sheriff’s Office, District
Attorney s office and Department of Health and Human Services.
• Revenue Sharing - 45% of the money generated by Measure 20-25 goes
to cities and unincorporated areas of Lane County, to be spent by these
areas for community safety programs and services.
• Evaluation - Ongoing accountability reporting about
the services funded by Measure 20-25)
This would not be a tax on your annual
income. Measure 20-25, on the
November vote-by-mail ballot, proposes
an 8% surcharge on state personal and
corporate income and excise taxes. It would
raise about $22 million the first year. Know
what you’re voting on. Get the facts.
For More Information
Call 541-953-3466
www.co.lane.or.us
Lane County, 125 East 8th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401