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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor CHICOPEE The mayor may be elected as the chief executive officer and the person ultimately held responsible for the way a community is governed, but in Chicopee, the big boss is not the one with the largest paycheck. One hundred-seventy city employees make more money than Mayor Michael Bissonnette, who told the Finance Committee of the City Council last week that elected officials need a raise. The discussion before the committee was for information only as state law forbids a lame-duck board from enacting ordinances this late in its tenure. Bissonnette wanted to begin a conversation that would hopefully result in action next year with the new council. Bissonnette said that in business, a company seeks to keep proven managers with adequate compensation. Cities are no different, he added, "We need to attract and retain really competent people," he said. He said that his lack of competition in the last election was not an indicator of his political strength, but rather a sign that "no one wants these jobs." "They're dirty," he added, referring to the oftentimes unwarranted criticism public officials endure and another reason people pass by the opportunity to run for office. "Of the last three mayors, two [Joseph] Chessey and [Richard] Kos, left for more money. The last one left for taking money," Bissonnette quipped. Chicopee is the second largest city west of Worcester and can boast of the lowest tax bills in the Pioneer Valley, Bissonnette said. "Can we afford it [a raise]? Of course we can," he said. Bissonnette is currently making $65,000 as mayor. He left a law practice that was producing a six-figure income, he said. He would like to see the mayor's pay raised to $95,000 and other raises would go to other elected positions such as the city clerk, the treasurer and assessors. He noted that his role in the negotiations saved the city $7.7 million in the construction of the new Chicopee Comprehensive High School. If he had been acting as an attorney, rather than the mayor, he would have charged one third of the $7.7 million as his fee. He joked, "Give me a third and I won't ask for a salary and I'll stay for ten years." City Treasurer Ernest LaFlamme said that he has never come to the Board of Aldermen in his 43 years of municipal service asking for a raise. He makes $48,000, he said, which he compared to the Holyoke treasurer's salary of $75,000. The town manager in South Hadley makes $105,000 and the town manager in Wilbraham makes $114,000, Bissonnette said. The mayor of Agawam earns $85,000, while Westfield and Holyoke pay their mayors $95,000. All of those communities are smaller than Chicopee. In Chicopee, the three highest paid municipal employees in 2006 were Jeffrey Cady, the head of the Chicopee Electric Light Department with $128,408, School Superintendent Richard Rege with $126,542.07 and Police Chief John Ferraro with $120,178.55. Other top earners included Fire Chief Stephen Burkott at $99,550, Chicopee Comprehensive High School Principal Stanley Kozikowski at $94,118.78 and Chicopee High School Principal Roland Joyal at $88,416.39. City Councilor James Tillotson said he wanted to make sure the Law Department reviewed the City Charter to insure that any action the council took next year would be legal. He was concerned whether or not the charter would allow the council to grant more than one raise in a year. Bissonnette had suggested raising salaries over several steps. Councilor Fred Krampits was concerned the raises would be too much of an increase for the city to handle financially and that perhaps they could be spread over several years. Krampits also said he would like to get reactions from constituents over proposed raises. "It's very difficult to run an administration when most of the people you supervise make more money than you do," Bissonnette said with a laugh. LaFlamme thanked the mayor at the meeting for "having the guts" to bring up the subject of raises. |