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Date: 11/7/2022
EASTHAMPTON – A proposed increase to two municipal stipends generated strong debate among the members of the City Council.
At its meeting on Nov. 2, the council reviewed an amendment to increase the annual salary for the School Committee to $4,000 per member and $4,250 for the chair. A second amendment would increase the annual salary for the City Council to $6,000 per member and $6,500 for the president. These increases would take effect on Jan. 2, 2024.
No final vote was taken, and the matter was continued to the meeting on Nov. 16. Precinct 5 Councilor Daniel Rist said that these increases wouldn’t take effect until the next term, meaning that the members would not receive it unless re-elected. This is the first time this stipend has been increased since 2016, according to Rist.
“These salaries affect future councilors and none of us are guaranteed another term,” he said.
One issue raised was that the increase may not be enough to attract a larger group of potential committee and council members. Precinct 3 Councilor Thomas Peake pointed out that the increase doesn’t account for inflation and that given the hours put in, the stipend comes to around $7.69 an hour, far less than the minimum wage. Peake said this may put off residents of Easthampton that wish to serve, but also need to make a living.
“We are an economically diverse city,” said Peake. “Some folks want to serve but think they’d make twice as much at McDonald’s.”
Council Member At-Large Owen Zaret echoed this, and suggested an amendment that would increase all the stipends by 75 percent, as opposed to the 50 percent included in the proposal. Fellow council member Brad Riley suggested a lower stipend, to avoid people serving in office solely for the financial gain. He added that the role of the council was to serve the people of Easthampton, and he didn’t want to see council members voting pay increases each year.
“We all deserve to be paid for the work we do,” said Zaret. “Some say ‘I don’t need the money,’ and many others do, and at the right level of compensation it makes or breaks whether they can get involved.”
According to Rist, the stipends come from the city’s operating budget and there is no limit to how high they can be set, though he said anyone proposing a $50,000 stipend could have a hard time getting re-elected.
“We all know how hard public service is—we get a lot of criticism,” he said. “They (residents) might be more attracted (to serving) if the salary was better.”
On a related matter, the council voted to approve an amendment to city ordinance Chapter 6, Section 6-1, which pertains to the storage of unregistered vehicles. The new ordinance would read: “Placing a car cover, tarp or other material over the vehicle, in which the vehicle can still be identified as a vehicle, is not out of sight for purposes of this ordinance.”
The original ordinance prohibits the storage of vehicles in an area other than a driveway or garage where they can be seen. However, if the vehicle is under a tarp or other material, it essentially rendered it out of sight and therefore not covered by the ordinance.
Easthampton Police Chief Chief Robert Alberti said this issue comes up several times, and cited a recent case where a neighbor had complained that another resident kept a car on the property. Police arrived and issued a warning that the vehicle had to be removed, with the plan to return in 10 days. If nothing is done, the owner is fined $10 a day. When they returned, the vehicle had not been moved, but now had a tarp over it. Alberti said the matter was taken before a judge, who dismissed the case because of the ordinance’s wording.
“I’m concerned about junkyards popping up all over town,” said Alberti. “It’s important and I can’t emphasize enough that we get those calls all the time.”