At the City Council meeting Thursday, Bryant officials called for a change to how elected officials' salaries are determined. The issue came up after contention arose regarding Mayor Jill Dabbs' recent pay increase.
Bryant resident and former Alderman Danny Steele admitted Thursday that he was the one who revealed the pay increase by using the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act to procure pay stubs. The pay stubs showed Dabbs and City Clerk Heather McKim each received a 5 percent raise in March that was retroactive to January and February. The yearly total increase is nearly $3,300 for Dabbs and about $2,000 for McKim.
Aldermen said they were not made aware of the increase and that Dabbs should have sought approval before taking action.
Dabbs said a city ordinance passed by the council in 2011 gave her the authority to give herself a 5 percent raise at the start of 2014, as did the council's approval of the 2014 budget. The increases to her salary and McKim's were included in the budget in the line item for elected officials' salaries, she said.
"I remember specifically asking if there were any raises included in there for elected officials, and you said no," said Alderman Adrian Hensley, who is running in Bryant's Nov. 4 mayoral election.
The City Council listened to a recording of a Finance and Personnel Committee meeting from December, when the ordinance that sets salaries for elected officials was discussed.
"I can tell you right now, as your mayor, I will not change the budget," Dabbs said at the December meeting. "I will not change the salary for myself or any other elected officials unless council votes on it, regardless of what any ordinance says."
The ordinance in question establishes a pay-scale program for elected officials that gives bumps for education level and previous service as an elected official. Aldermen on Thursday were unsure whether the ordinance gave Dabbs the authority to increase her salary.
Several council members suggested that they come up with a set salary for mayor that would apply to current and future officials.
"I think what we need to do is have a salary for elected officials, period," said Alderman Mike Chandler. "Experience, education, none of that makes any difference. If you're elected by the people, you should know what your salary is going to be when you walk into office, and it shouldn't be dependent on 50,000 issues that don't matter. At some point, we need to address that and set salaries."
Steve Gladden, who was on the council when the pay-scale program was initiated five years ago, said that its intention was to attract highly qualified candidates to the position.
"We wanted to bring in people with college degrees, good experience and so on," Gladden said. "I think this is still a vital part to attracting good candidates for the future of our city."
Dabbs said the ordinance would be further discussed at October's Finance and Personnel Committee meeting.
Six Bryant residents offered their opinions on the controversy during the public comments section of Thursday's meeting.
Resident Lisa Meyer accused aldermen of making "unjustified claims" against Dabbs to further their political agendas.
"I find this conduct deplorable," Meyer said. "You voted for these policies, you allowed these increases. This is an attempt to create a perception of malfeasance and mishandling of funds."
Dabbs and many of the commenters pointed to Alderman Randy Cox -- who is also running against Dabbs in the upcoming mayoral election -- as the one perpetuating the controversy.
"I do not appreciate being accused of something I had no part in," Cox said.
Steele, who had filed a complaint against Dabbs in 2011 with the Arkansas Ethics Commission when Dabbs tried to give herself a raise then, said she used "deception and deceit" in giving herself a pay increase.
"I brought this forth because I keep seeing a pattern with our mayor," Steele said. "As Britney Spears would say, 'Oops, she did it again.' I consider those actions to be unacceptable and repugnant."
Also discussed at the City Council meeting Thursday was a forensic audit of the city's finances.
In October 2013, the council voted to spend $20,000 to conduct the audit. The contract for it was awarded to L. Douglas Brown, a former white-collar-crime investigator with the Arkansas State Police.
Brown was at Thursday's meeting to receive direction from the council on how to move forward with the audit on a limited budget. Cox asked that Brown do a comprehensive audit of the city's 2013 finances, but Dabbs said Brown would not agree to a full-scale audit of the city's $24 million budget for a price of $20,000.
"That is not within the scope of what he's offering to do for the city of Bryant," Dabbs said.
Metro on 09/26/2014