Council will discuss an ordinance that would outline who would be allowed to dole out pay raises within the City Building
Athens City Council will continue to discuss an ordinance that could potentially alleviate tensions within the Athens City Building and settle a disagreement over the fairness of the city’s pay scale.
The ordinance — on its second reading at Monday’s Athens City Council meeting — would establish who would be authorized to dole out pay raises within the city building.
It was proposed by Councilman Jeff Risner, 2nd Ward, who has called the ordinance a way to “reassert the authority of council” by only allowing raises to be given out by certain elected officials within pay bands created and set by council members.
“To me, it’s more of a constant question of, ‘Does the legislative body of the city of Athens have the power to regulate the budget, or has it abdicated that authority to other elected officials?’ ” Risner said at a previous council meeting.
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This conundrum stems from a spat between Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl and Athens City Auditor Kathy Hect, in which Hecht awarded 2 to 4 percent pay raises to employees in the auditor’s office without the authority of council.
Wiehl argued that council was the only body with the authority to award pay raises, though then- City Law Director Pat Lang said Hecht was well within her powers.
The dispute even halted communications between the mayor’s office and the auditor’s office in mid-January.
In mid-March, council passed an ordinance to award a 1 percent pay raise to nonunion city workers who had not already received an additional raise.
The ordinance received opposition from two members of council, which typically votes unanimously.
A 1 percent pay raise for nonunion employees would cost the city an additional $47,000 annually, Wiehl said in a previous Post report.
Councilwoman Jennifer Cochran, D-at large, who likened the ordinance to a “Band-Aid” and voiced she was uncomfortable with passing it. She added she would be more in favor of granting a way for employees to earn merit-based pay raises.
Wiehl, on the other hand, was in full support of the ordinance.
“If you’re hemorrhaging, do you wait for the right Band-Aid to stop the flow of blood?” Wiehl said during the meeting.
The new ordinance could be on the books within the month.
@emilybohatch
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