By Michael Glenn
Teen-Age Dirtbag
If I wanted to run for any local office in Reno County, I wouldn’t be able to do so.
It’s not because I don’t think I could win—maybe I could get 50.1% of the vote. It’s not because I don’t have a big head full of ideas that people would love to hear, either.
It’s because I, like many other civically-engaged citizens, would go broke trying to do so.
If I ever wanted to run for political office, even at the smallest level, I’d want to make sure running wouldn’t put me in a negative financial position.
Local government officials shouldn’t have to expect to lose money by running for office or serving their constituents. Right now, Reno County Commissioners get paid $11,340 a piece, and Hutchinson City Council members and all Reno County School Board members get $0 collectively.
Not paying officials comes with more drawbacks than simply paying them a fair salary is worth. I interviewed outgoing Hutchinson Council member Jon Richardson, who brought up the idea of compensation for council members.
Richardson, being the only member leaving the council this year, likely felt more comfortable bringing up council pay on his way out, but he brings up many valid points that people don’t think about when it comes to paying officials.
I, as a reporter, can reasonably expect a council member to pick up the phone within office hours or get back to me in a timely manner.
That requires the council member to be available to pick up the phone, meet for coffee or research city code during those times. Council members are also often expected to meet with other city officials, state leadership, national conferences, business wooings and attend to other important business, all throughout the day.
This requirement to be available during the average workday inherently turns away working people or lower-class residents from being able to have representation in government. Those who do try to run for office and make a difference show respectable effort, but often the only people running the show are retired, business owners or wealthy enough not to need to work.
Furthermore, the city council and school boards often meet during the evening, requiring even more time from people who simply may not have the ability to afford it.
I don’t think anyone should be getting rich off running for local office, but adding a reasonable salary for council members is the right thing to do to spur a new slate of candidates and potential ideas for our city to consider.
Many of our city’s new programs attempt to target the financially disadvantaged or unstable for assistance, so why shouldn’t they have the ability to run for council and influence how those programs are handled?
Now, I understand not wanting to raise your own pay, from a council member or commissioner standpoint, especially when it’s the sense of sending more taxpayer money directly to your pocket.
However, as a taxpayer, I want my officials to work well, and they deserve to be paid fairly for that work. If we raised the pay of each commissioner to $31,200 – roughly equivalent to a $15 an hour full-time salary- that would raise all of our taxes, collectively, by around $99,300.
That turns out to be right around $1.65 per person with some back-of-the-napkin math, with the rough assumption that there are 60,000 taxpayers in the county.
Are you willing to pay $1.65 for new ideas, perspectives or beliefs? Could $1.65 (eventually) change the makeup of our governing bodies to more accurately reflect the needs of our communities?
Maybe, I think so. I’d actually be willing to pay a heck of a lot more, but $1.65 seems fair. The same math could be applied to pay city and school board members.
Paying officials isn’t a perk of the office; it’s a fair payment for the work they do. Most of them volunteer or financially sacrifice to serve in their positions, but it shouldn’t have to be that way.
I call on all government boards – county, city and school boards – to consider adding a reasonable salary for their board members. It provides fair compensation for their work, increases the number of candidates available to serve and adds new perspectives to governing bodies once inherently barred from serving on them.