Group Wants Better Pay for City Officials

A citizen group tasked with reviewing Dunedin’s constitution is proposing changes it believes will encourage "” to run for public office.

The Charter Review Committee met Wednesday night at the to tweak a draft report that will ultimately go to the commission. A group is required to look at the city's charter, or its governing laws, every five years. 

In it, they recommend limiting newly elected officials to two, four-year terms beginning with the upcoming election in November 2012. Officials would be able to run again for another seat after two years (or for the same seat after four years).

The group also wants to delete a line in the charter that they believe prevents low-income people from running for public office.

“The system is kinda set to discourage people who are working for a living from being a part of it,” said Bill Francisco, committee chair. “Blocks of people who are really capable people who should be encouraged to be involved.”

The deleted line says that the salary for elected officials should be determined, “in recognition of the principle” that the job “is a matter of public service to the community and is not actual compensation for services rendered.”

The seven-member committee, however, recognized that public office is becoming an increasingly time-consuming job — with an explosion of meetings in recent years.  Although the committee said it believes the increased time commitment is of the officials’ own doing, it also said, the job should pay more than $8,000 a year.

“We’ve got one serving commissioner who puts $10,000” of his or her “own money in and matches it with $10,000 already raised for an $8,000-a-year job. That doesn’t make sense to me,” Francisco said.

This sets the stage for a political system that favors the independently wealthy and gainfully employed or retired candidates, he said.

“This not a solution, but it will set it up to help,” he added.