Eagle City Council approves pay raises, including mayor

EAGLE, Idaho (KBOI) - The Eagle City Council on Tuesday voted to raise their annual salary including the mayor's. Although it was for less money than originally planned.

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Originally Mayor Jim Reynolds would go from $42,000-$60,000, but instead the council voted for $50,000. Councilors pay will go from around $5,600-$8,400. With the council president making slightly more.

In 2009 the council voted to cut their pay nearly in half along with the mayor's because of the hard economic times.

Councilor John Grasser said he disagreed with the raises because the city just started to see things get better, and thinks they should save for a rainy day. While Councilor Jason Pierce noted the low compensation prevented many who wanted to be on the council from trying because they don't enough with their full time job.

Although Grasser agreed the mayor should at least get a raise because his is a full-time position.

Because of the lower rate, the council agreed to forgo having to read the ordinance three times and passed the measure on a 3-1 vote. Only after Councilor Mary Defayette changed her vote from no to yes.

Several residents disagreed with the proposed move saying that people should want to serve their community out of service and not for the money.

Mayor Reynolds said, as someone who came from private industry, that not every representative can be expected to serve without competitive pay. He continued to say the best people in private industry aren't expected to do the same.

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He did note the distrust many people have with politicians, and their pay, while sometimes wasting money. He thinks that perception mostly comes from national politicians.

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