Do Columbus city leaders deserve a raise? Panel will recommend
Do Columbus’ elected leaders deserve a pay raise?
A city charter-mandated group of five citizens gets to not only make a recommendation on that topic this spring, but also set a hard cap on how high any City Council-approved pay raises may go.
“In no event may council adopt an ordinance establishing salaries which exceed the recommendations of the commission,” according to the charter language, adopted by voters in 2014, which requires the commission to review pay every four years.
Sitting on the commission are: Fred Ransier, a retired attorney; Keisha J. Hunley-Jenkins, assistant director of the Boys & Young Men of Color Collective at Ohio State University and former external affairs director for former Mayor Michael B. Coleman; Sarah Ingles, a labor attorney; Quiana Williams, a human resources vice president with OhioHealth; and Michael Kasler, who worked a variety of administrative roles in various city departments before retiring in 2018, and will act as commission chair.
“We welcome public comment and participation,” Kasler said, noting that while in high-inflationary times like today salaries typically go up, his reading of the commission’s powers theoretically could be for a proposed pay cut for elected leaders.
“We look at similarly sized cities around the country, and we look at the compensation models … and try to make some determinations based on our setup,” said Ransier, who chaired the panel the last time it convened in 2018. “For instance, our council is still part-time, but that in my opinion is a fiction, but their compensation is reflective of that.
“Columbus is the growing city in the state of Ohio, so that I think we have to also recognize. … It’s all of that. I think we’ll try to be as thorough as possible.”
The city’s human resources department will gather the criteria on which Columbus salaries will be compared, Kasler said.
According to the city charter, akin to the city’s constitution, the commission may also issue an “annual cost of living adjustment which shall not exceed the average increase in the consumer price index, or successor thereto, during the preceding four years.” Kasler said those COLAs compound year over year.
Annual salaries this year for top city officials are: the mayor, $204,683; council president, $86,977; council members, $72,301; and the city attorney and city auditor, $200,339 each, according to Council President Shannon Hardin’s office.
Hardin and other members declined to comment pending the recommendations of the commission, said spokesman David Miller.
Four years ago, commission members pointed to survey data from 25 other cities in delivering a recommendation to raise the pay of the council members and president by 20%. Commission members said they believe council members actually work full-time, dealing with community issues and attending public events in addition to council meetings.
In 2023, the seven-member council will grow by two seats because voters approved a charter amendment in May to change the size and structure of the body.
Ransier acknowledged that the topic of public officials’ compensation is politically sensitive, and a difficult subject for elected leaders. The commission’s role is to take a hot topic off their plates.
But after the commission’s recommendations, the final decisions will be up to the City Council, which theoretically could decide to reject any recommendations boosting their pay and the pay of other leaders, he said.
“Realistically, I would be very surprised if they decided legislatively to take less than we recommend,” Ransier said, laughing. “It’s just not human nature.”
Any recommended salary changes approved by the current council wouldn’t take effect until 2026, under Ohio Ethics Commission guidelines that prohibit elected leaders from voting on or influencing their own financial positions, according to the Columbus city attorney’s office. That effectively lets voters decide who collects any approved pay raises.
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