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PrintCOLUMBIA — An amendment to the city charter that would pay stipends to members of the Columbia City Council will appear on the April 5 municipal ballot.
The stipends would be $9,000 for the mayor and $6,000 for other council members and would not take effect until 2014, after the terms of the present council members have ended.
Sixth Ward Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe said during a brief debate on the measure Monday night that in other cities stipends for city council members are "very common."
"I signed on knowing there was no pay," Hoppe said, but she added that she has found while attending conferences that few council members in other cities are uncompensated.
Voters have rejected stipends or salaries for City Council members in the past. A previous Missourian article explains the most recent proposal, as outlined in a letter submitted to the council Nov. 29.
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Seems like a fair price for the work they have to do given a town of > 100K inhabitants.
Until you consider the "work" they did last night...
For reference, that works out to somewhere between $3-$5 for each recitation of each word of the Pledge of Allegiance each year.
I'm not against these folks getting paid, but we don't have any money. If we had the money, I would rather take the $45,000 per year and hire another police officer, since the police department is short 28 officers.