Mayoral Salary Amount Decided in Loves Park

By Margaret Downing, REPORTER

To recap the Mayoral pay issue: At the Oct. 10 Loves Park City Council meeting, Alderman John Pruitt, who, along with Alderman Greg Jury, are running for Mayor in April, requested an amendment to a motion to approve the Mayor’s salary, saying $80,000 a year is more appropriate than the approximate $93,276 pay. At that time, Alderman Mark Peterson suggested that the issue be tabled for discussion, which it was for Oct. 17. Pruitt, when asked why he wanted the change said, “It’s my opinion that whoever wins the Mayor’s race is going to step into the job with a huge learning curve. The Mayor has been in the position for 20 years. I believe experience is an important part of that job. I’d like to see the city look at reducing utility taxes, for instance, and I don’t think raises should be forthcoming until such an option is even considered.” At the Oct. 10 meeting, Pruitt and Alderman Clint Little both voted against approving the Mayor’s pay rate. Aldermen Pruitt and A. Marie Holmes voted against tabling the item. At the Oct. 17 Council Meeting the matter came up for a vote. Alderman A. Marie Holmes was not at that meeting. A motion to approve Pruitt’s amendment received six “no” votes and two “yes” votes – from Pruitt and Little. Alderman Greg Jury voted “present.” A motion was made to approve an amended ordinance, second reading, for the Mayor’s salary to be set for four more years at a “frozen” amount of $93,276 a year. It had also been frozen for the current term ending next spring. On a vote for that motion, Alderman Little voted “yes,” as did the remaining aldermen, excluding Pruitt and Jury, who both voted “present.” Afterward, Pruitt posted this statement on Facebook: “Tonight the City Council voted 6-2 with one present (Alderman Greg Jury voted ‘present’), which is a procedural action to vote with the majority without actually doing so – to deny my motion to cut the salary of the next mayor from $93,363 to $80,000 per year. As a result of this vote, citizens of Loves Park will pay an additional $53,000 in wages to the next Mayor over the next four years.” “This will also add an additional cost to the retirement fund, as well. If the next Mayor should draw retirement for 20 years after leaving office, you would be looking at an additional $170,000 in retirement pay.” “This marks the second time that Alderman Jury has failed to support me in an action that would have saved money for the taxpayers of Loves Park. When I moved to have the Mayor, City Clerk and Treasurer removed from the ‘longevity bonus’ program, as well as freezing the wages of all elected officials, Alderman Jury voted against it. That motion saved the taxpayers nearly $90,000 over the past four years.”

In response to Pruitt’s comments, Jury had this to say: “At the Oct. 17 Finance Committee meeting there was a discussion about Alderman Pruitt’s amendment to reduce the Mayor’s salary. Alderman Pruitt’s amendment was made without transparency or benefit of discussion with other alderman at the prior meeting. After discussion, the alderman felt it would not be in the best interest of the city to lower the Mayor’s salary.  At that Council meeting, Alderman Pruitt’s amendment was rejected. The original ordinance was then voted on, with seven aldermen voting yes, and Alderman Pruitt and I voting present. The ordinance continues another four-year freeze, which I felt was acceptable.” “Mr. Pruitt’s reason for attempting to lower the Mayor’s salary is because whoever wins is going to step into a job with a huge learning curve. I would not even think about running if I did not think I could step into the office and hit the ground running. The Mayor’s office is full of responsibilities that require a firm hand on day one.” “Mr. Pruitt is all over the map on the issue of salary increases. He criticized my ‘present’ vote then followed my lead and cast a ‘present’ vote on a related ordinance. His position on this issue is clearly political and I don’t think the Council floor is a place for politics. The Council floor should be reserved for the people’s business. “I also take issue with Mr. Pruitt’s comment that ‘Alderman Jury has failed to support me.’ I support the people of Loves Park and I certainly would not ask other Council members to support my own agenda over that of their constituents.” “Lastly, Mr. Pruitt brought up his amendment to the Council on Oct. 10. That amendment was laid over because most of the alderman felt blindsided by this issue. Mr. Pruitt talks about transparency, but there is nothing transparent about bringing up issues when your fellow aldermen have had no time to review it.” “My goal if elected next spring is to continue the success the city has had under Mayor Lindberg and his excellent staff. I will base my campaign on honesty and openness. I will talk about issues and will always respond if I feel information is inaccurate.”

In other business, Oct. 17, ARC Design Resources of Loves Park was approved for an engineering services agreement for Phase III of the Alpine Road Reconstruction Project at a total dollar amount of $473,000. Work is set to begin in the spring. A subdivision plat that will allow access to E. Riverside Blvd. for the Mercy Health System campus was okayed. A resolution “authorizing a support services agreement for the water department’s SCADA system” was passed. Baxter Woodman Control Systems of Crystal Lake will monitor the system at a cost of $7,950. A definition of SCADA is as follows: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition – a system for remote monitoring and control that operates with coded signals over communication channels (using typically one communication channel per remote station). Approval to pay water bills totaling $19,483.37, and general fund and all other bills amounting to $93,276.56, as presented Oct. 10, were approved for payment. Alderman Little gave the weekly Police activity report for the week of Oct. 9-15. There were 543 calls for service, 159 arrests, and 14 accidents reported. On the weekly Fire Department report dated Oct. 16, two public service calls, one carbon monoxide or gas leak call, and one odor investigation call were reported.