KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
A recently proposed item on a Unified Government agenda that would have given significant salary increases for the mayor, county commissioners, and other Unified Government (UG) officials generated strong reactions from community members.
The proposal was removed from the June 3 Administration & Human Services standing committee meeting agenda. The proposal outlined a significant pay increases for several positions.
The mayor’s salary would have jumped from $132,818 to nearly $220,000, an increase of nearly 65%.
County commissioners, who serve in part-time roles, could have gotten a salary increase of 186%. Their salaries would soar to $63,492.
The raises would have resulted in $585,914 worth of increased costs.
Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner, who is not seeking re-election, said the discussion surrounding the salary increases began during a commissioners retreat in February.
He said a commissioner initially brought up the idea of increases and salaries being more in line with surrounding municipalities.
KSHB 41’s Rachel Henderson reached out to that commissioner for a request for comment, but has not heard back.
Garner told KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson a question going around at the retreat was, "Are we in line with other municipalities and government agencies that are giving their elected officials pay raises?"
That question came after pay raises for the Kansas City, Missouri, mayor and city council members earlier this year.
Mayor Quinton Lucas now earns $163,000 per year and city council members approximately $81,000.
"You can look at comparables with Kansas City, Missouri, but they’re so much bigger than us, and their budget is so much bigger than us," Garner said.
Here is a list of other neighboring Kansas municipalities and the salaries their elected officials make.
According to the county’s code on standing committees, the mayor has the authority to assign agenda items to standing committees.
The chair of the Administration and Human Services committee, Melissa Bynum, told Henderson that she was not present for the agenda review.
Garner stated that UG staff was told to develop a fair and equitable pay structure after the retreat.
One of the documents attached to the agenda outlines potential increases and salary parity, or equality, for some of the highest-paid elected positions: district attorney and sheriff.
Each one makes a little under $220,000 a year.
“You could literally have some very highly paid elected officials in Wyandotte County that may be out of alignment with the rest of their counterparts,” Garner said. “I think they used that as their baseline when you talk about comparable and parity and pay.”
Former KCK Mayor Carol Marinovich expressed her disapproval over the proposed increases, saying, “I was immediately appalled.”
She says during her 10 years in office discussions regarding salary hikes did not occur.
“Being an elected official in my opinion is not a career,” Marinovich said. “It’s a public service.”
Marinovich even went as far as posting her reaction on Facebook.
“This outrageous amount is just crazy, especially in tough budgetary times,” Marinovich said.
In the two decades since she retired, the UG’s debt has increased by about $400 million.
“The current mayor has repeatedly said 'we’re broke,"' Marinovich said. “Well, when you’re broke, you don’t do something like that if he truly believes we’re broke.”
Garner said he wouldn’t go straight to broke.
“I think we’re stabilized,” he said. “But it’s still very fragile.”
Garner says he wants the public to understand the elected officials intentions.
“I took away from the discussion that was going on that nobody was looking for any personal self gain,” Garner said. “It was more about we just want to make sure we’re not falling behind in that regard and making sure that our compensation is adequate and comparable.”
The aforementioned proposed values did not take into account a COLA, or Cost of Living Adjustment.
It’s essentially a small salary increase commissioners and the mayor get in tandem with staff salary increases.
Marinovich recalls COLA being around when she was in office.
“Whatever the average was that the employees got, the mayor would get,” she said. “And the idea behind that was so nothing like this would have to be done.”
Garner and a handful of commissioners opted out of their COLA when the commission voted to go revenue neutral last year.
He said the topic of attracting candidates also came up at the retreat.
“I heard someone say we want to make sure that we get good candidates that are qualified to run for these positions and make this attractive because you don’t really get a lot of people signing up for these public offices anymore,” Garner said.
That’s something Marinovich says she understands, but says candidates have to take into account when running.
“One of the first thoughts I had was…what happened to the idea of public service,” she asked. “I will not vote for or ever support anyone who supports this.”
Marinovich said she has a message for voters come August and November.
“If this happens, remember,” she said. “Remember at the polls.”
The June 3 standing committee was rescheduled from May 19 and is still taking place on June 3, only without this agenda item.
“I totally pulled it because when I saw that, and I had some people call me and say, ‘Did you see this,"' Garner said. “And I looked at it, and I was like, ‘Oh, my!’”
Garner said he wants the legal department to go back to the drawing board and do further research.
“If [the commissioners] still choose to take it up, they’ll have enough information to make an informed decision or just be aware,” Garner said.
For him, he says it’s about finding a fair, middle ground.
"There has to be a happy medium somewhere, and I think that is what the commission is looking for," he stated.
