Mayor, Council Announce Formation of Commission to Review Elected Official Pay
Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman and City Council President
Andrew J. Ginther have announced the formation of the Citizens’ Commission on
Elected Official Compensation. The five
person commission will study and recommend compensation levels for the mayor,
council, city attorney, and auditor adding an additional layer of citizen
engagement and accountability to the process of setting future pay rates for
elected officials in Columbus. The formation of the Commission was mandated by
recent changes to the Columbus City Charter overwhelmingly supported by
Columbus voters last November.
“The Commission places the power to decide the pay of
elected leaders in the hands of the people,” said Mayor Coleman. “This is
an emerging best practice used in major cities across the nation and Ohio, and
it is the right thing to do.”
The Commission will be led by former City of Columbus Human
Resources Director Chet Christie. Christie has decades of experience working in
the public sector analyzing and negotiating compensation packages. Other
commissioners include Dawn Tyler Lee, Senior Vice President of Community Impact
for United Way of Central Ohio and Columbus attorney Marchelle E. Moore, Vice
President of Legal & Government Affairs and General Counsel for the Central
Ohio Transit Authority. Both Lee and Moore served on the Columbus Charter
Review Commission which recommended the citizen review of elected official pay. They will be joined by William Murdock, Executive Director of the Mid-Ohio
Regional Planning Commission and Kristen Easterday, Columbus Chamber of
Commerce’s Director of Local Government Relations.
“Each commission
member brings a unique perspective on public service, and collectively, they
represent stakeholders from the public, private, for-profit and nonprofit communities,”
said Council President Ginther. “Most
importantly, they will make informed recommendations that are in the public’s
best interest and will assure elected officials remain accountable to the
people they serve.”
The Commission will have three months to submit to the clerk
a report of recommendations for the salary of each elective official of the
city, including an annual cost of living adjustment which shall not exceed the
average increase in the consumer price index during the preceding four
years.
Under the Columbus City Charter, setting elected official
salaries will still require a public vote of City Council, which may accept the
commission’s recommendations or approve a lower pay scale. Council cannot
exceed the commission’s recommendations.
The first meeting of the Commission is expected to be
scheduled in the next two weeks. All commission meetings will be considered
public meetings.
-30-