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Date: 1/27/2021
CHICOPEE– Significant pay raises are being considered for a number of Chicopee elected officials including the mayor, treasurer, assessors, city clerk, city councilors and Law Department employees.
The raise proposal was introduced by Mayor John Vieau after a Human Resources Department study found that Chicopee officials were underpaid compared to eight surrounding cities in Western Massachusetts. Many Chicopee residents are conflicted about these raises. If the pay raises were approved, Vieau’s salary could increase up to $37,000, giving him a salary of $122,000 a year. The issue was discussed at the Jan. 19 City Council meeting.
Many residents have voiced their concerns over the possible raises on community Facebook forums. If approved, the raises would be paid for through an additional tax expense. Many residents expressed a pay raise is unnecessary during a global pandemic.
During the meeting one community member gave her opinion on the raises. Debbie Guardino acknowledged that the mayor and City Council members have not had a raise in 13 years, but added that she thinks now is not the right time for it.
“I do feel, however, that right now the optics of voting to give yourself raises without doing it across the board for all city workers, especially during a time when people are losing their jobs and losing their businesses, is not good. It doesn’t look good, it doesn’t feel good, and I just don’t know how, in good conscience, you can give yourself raises and not give School Committee members raises and think about the DPW workers and everyone else,” said Guardino.
Community member Daniel Leatherwood also backed Guardino’s statement during public input.
“I feel that there are areas where this money could be better appropriated and feel that the mayor’s position, although I do feel is underpaid, I don’t feel this is the time for a raise. We are in a struggling time, a pandemic, where most of the students are homeschooled, small businesses are closing and many of us are scared,” he said.
Leatherwood emphasized that the Health Department, teachers, DPW workers, police, EMTs and fire department workers should be given money instead as they work to “help Chicopee get through these COVID times.”
Council members were then able to vote on sending this pay raise ordinance to a finance subcommittee with a public hearing. Councilor Joel McAuliffe encouraged his fellow council members to vote no on sending it to the committee.
“I cannot, in good conscience, vote to significantly raise elected officials salaries in the middle of a pandemic while we furlough employees on the municipal level and while many of our other residents are out of work and struggling to get by,” said McAuliffe. “While I believe the order is well-intended, I believe it sent a terrible message to our residents and to our employees.”
Councilor James Tillotson was quick to jump on McAuliffe’s comment on not sending the ordinance to committee for discussion.
“There’s never a good time to give wage increases to anybody,” said Tillotson. “When it comes to this kind of thing, I just said put it in the committee, I didn’t say we had to pass it. But we can look at it, we can make some changes. There’s no guarantee that it has to be done immediately.”
Tilloston voiced his opinion that the idea of not even looking at possible raises is “absurd” and that McAuliffe’s claims are “short-sightedness.”
“There’s more to it than just saying no to the money,” said Tillotson. “We should’ve given the mayor a raise a long time ago.”
Several committee members agreed with Tillotson’s statements that the ordinance should be sent to a finance committee for further discussion.
“There is never a good time to give a raise, Councilor Tillotson was right. I think it has to go to committee so we can discuss it and if we put it off until the first of January that’s fine, but whatever the will of the committee will be, I think we have to speak about it,” said Councilor Gary Labrie.
Labrie stated that voting no on this ordinance will be like saying the people in question don’t deserve a raise at all.
Many fellow committee members also agreed that the ordinance should be sent to committee.
“You can do your own research and realize how poorly we’ve taken care of the position of mayor,” said Councillor William Courchesne.
He said he wants the ordinance to go to the committee so the public can come in and get their opinions heard.
“Here’s a chance for everybody to get together and do it together,” he said.
Councilor Derek Dobosz said he agrees with sending the ordinance to the committee, but that he wouldn’t support a raise until the next election cycle.
“It’s an ethics violation for an increase in the middle of a term,” he said. Any raise likely wouldn’t start until the beginning of the next election cycle at the earliest or until 2022, according to Dobosz.
“I’m not saying I’m for it or against it, but it should go to committee so we can have a good logical discussion on this. It’s long overdue,” said Councilor Robert Zygarowski.
Frederick Krampits referred back to 2008, another year where city raises were given. According to Krampits, even then the process was “excruciating”
“When we have it in committee maybe we can find a way to do it in steps or something like that. Tie it to the cost of living… something where we’re not going through these big gyrations every decade on the salaries,” he said. “I look forward to it going to committee for a robust discussion.”
During the committee members debate, many Chicopee residents were voicing their opinions on Facebook.
“Don't debate this and waste time...work on things we need...not filling your own pockets! Represent what the people want not what you think we need!” said one resident, Paul Parks, on the ChicopeeTV live stream.
Another resident voiced the idea of increasing wages for city employees in small increments over the years.
“A raise of $5,000 every year for the next five years is reasonable,” said resident, Al Stewart, on the ChicopeeTV live stream.
In the end, the committee voted to send the ordinance to the finance committee for public hearing. Raises have not yet been modified, voted on or approved. Sending it to the finance committee is where it will be more deeply discussed and debated.
According to City Council President Shane Brooks, he hopes to schedule the meeting for Feb. 9. Residents with opinions from all sides will then be able to speak.
“This will go to the ordinance subcommittee, this will go to the finance subcommittee all for public hearing. We want to be as transparent as possible. We will set them up in larger venues so that as many of the public can give feedback on their feelings,” said Brooks.