Full steam ahead? : Prairie Grove officials consider making mayor full-time job
Posted on Monday, September 1, 2008
There are no full-time mayors in the smaller cities of Washington County. But that could change. Prairie Grove aldermen are considering making the mayor a full-time position. There is a committee of three aldermen looking into it: Paul “ Murph” Pair, Buddy Lyle and Fred Collins. Mayor Sonny Hudson, who recently retired from his full-time job after 35 years at Arkansas Western Gas, said he believes Prairie Grove deserves a full-time mayor. “ They could use it. They’re growing. I’m just not sure the funds are there, ” he said. “ That’s going to be one of the more important things to do is just look and see how the budget is looking and go from there. ”
Survey Larry Oelrich, the city’s administrative ser vices / public works director, is surveying cities in the region to find out what mayoral salaries are. The survey includes cities in Washington, Benton, Carroll and Crawford counties. Cities in the survey have populations between 2, 500 and 10, 000, he said. In an interview Friday, Oelrich revealed the results he has gathered so far and provided a chart of small cities and mayors. There are two mayors in the area considered part time that are paid salaries that resemble full-time compensation, Oelrich said. An example is Johnson Mayor Lonnie Barron, who is paid an annual salary of $ 45, 000. It is a 30-hourper-week job. He does not receive compensation for special meetings or regular meetings as part of his service on boards or commissions, as some other mayors do. Johnson’s population is estimated at 3, 500, according to Oelrich’s survey. The Gentry mayor, also considered part time, is paid $ 40, 000 per year, plus $ 3, 600 in expense money, a $ 200 per month meeting expense and $ 100 for each special meeting. The mayor receives $ 100 per regular meeting and $ 75 per special meeting for serving on boards or commissions. Approximate weekly hours vary. The city’s population is estimated at 2, 700, according to the survey.
Full-time mayors Mayors in Lowell, Centerton and Pea Ridge are full time, according to Oelrich’s survey. The Centerton mayor receives a yearly salar y of $ 47, 500 plus $ 40 per meeting. The mayor receives $ 45 per meetings for serving on boards or commissions. The population in Centerton is estimated at 5, 621. The population was 2, 416 in the 2000 census. No weekly hours are listed on the survey. In Lowell, the yearly salary for the mayor is $ 63, 444 plus $ 75 per meeting for serving on boards or commissions. The city’s population is now estimated to be 8, 000, nearly a 3, 000-person jump from the 2000 census. No weekly hours are listed on the survey. Pea Ridge’s population is estimated at 4, 500. The mayor receives $ 40, 015 in annual salary plus $ 75 per meeting to serve on boards or commissions. Weekly hours are not listed on the survey.
Prairie Grove Prairie Grove’s population is now estimated at 4, 200, second only to Farmington among small cities in Washington County. Farmington’s population is estimated at 4, 815. The part-time mayor position in Prairie Grove pays $ 500 per month, or $ 6, 000 per year. That salary has not changed since 1984 when it was increased from $ 250 per month. Oelrich’s survey states that the mayor’s weekly hours vary. Pair said only having a part-time mayor ties up “ your city administrator type person” because that person performs a lot of administrative and policy duties that the mayor probably should do. But Pair said he has concerns about how to pay for a full-time mayor. With salary and benefits, he said, “ You’re looking at a large amount of money. ” “ I feel like that if nothing else happens, we probably will increase the compensation for the mayor’s position, even if it doesn’t go to a full-time position, ” Pair said. Hudson said he has not tried to write down how many hours he works running the city. But, between overseeing the city and attending meetings besides council meetings, he said, “ It keeps you pretty busy. ” He does not receive any additional compensation for special meetings or those of boards or commissions on which he serves. He said the “ great thing that gets us by is we’ve got some really good employees, department heads. They do a great job for the city. When you’ve got good people working with you, that makes a big difference. ” But if the mayor was full time, he said, “ There’s just so many more things you can do and do better and do hands on. ” Several cities in the county, such as Farmington, hire managers to run the day-to-day operations. Oelrich is fulfilling that role for Prairie Grove in addition to his sewer and water duties.
Farmington Farmington Mayor Ernie Penn, a part-time mayor, is paid $ 1, 000 per month, or $ 12, 000 annually. He works 10 hours per week as mayor, according to Oelrich’s survey. He is paid $ 75 per special meeting and $ 100 per regular meeting for boards or commissions on which he serves.
Melissa McCarville serves as city business manager for Farmington, handling daily operations when the mayor is unavailable.
“ If I feel like it’s something the mayor needs to be involved with, than I involve him, ” McCarville said.
Some personnel issues, she said, would fall into the area where the mayor needs to become involved. She has spending authority but not for anything out of the ordinary.
“ If public works came in and wanted to purchase a piece of equipment that would save $ 5, 000, we would definitely sit down and discuss that sort of thing, ” she said.
She said she does not believe the city needs a full-time mayor at this point.
“ I think that our department heads have done a pretty good job of running the departments, ” she said. “ Ernie is involved enough that there’s oversight there when there needs to be. ”
Penn said luring someone to run for full-time mayor would require an attractive salary because the person, unless retired, would be more likely to leave other employment. Penn serves as senior vice president at Arvest Bank in Farmington. Working in town, Penn said he is readily available for any business that might need his attention.
“ I think it’s just each city’s situation that you have to look at, ” he said.
He said “ You’re never off duty when you’re mayor, ” but creating a full-time position would bring up the question of how many hours are considered full-time.
He said the city business manager would still be needed if the mayor became full time because employees like that have the background and experience needed to help run the city.
McCarville said there could be a need for a full-time mayor if enough development picked up again.
“ When I first started a few years ago, there was a lot of development that went on, people coming in a lot. That has slowed down considerably, ” she said. “ One of the differences between our situation and Prairie Grove is we don’t have the utilities. ”
Farmington receives its water and sewer service from Fayetteville (a few residents use the Washington Water Authority ) and its trash service through Waste Management. The city is responsible for fire and police protection and streets, as well as planning.
Hudson also discussed the differences between Prairie Grove and the other small cities.
“ Some other cities get services from Fayetteville, ” he said. “ We have our own water treatment plant. We have our own wastewater treatment plant. We have our own trash pickup. That makes us a little bit different than some places as far as that. We have more employees, more equipment. More things going on. ” Other Washington County towns
Information on Lincoln was not included in Oelrich’s survey by Friday. In West Fork, the mayor receives $ 6, 500 per year, plus health insurance and about a $ 1, 000 per year expense allowance. Weekly hours vary, according to Oelrich’s survey.
Asked about a mayor becoming full time, Elkins Mayor Jack Ladyman said he believes “ You hit a point in your growth where that decision has to be made, or at least considered. I have no idea where that point is. ”
Ladyman receives $ 16, 000 per year in salary and works 40 hours a week, according to Oelrich’s survey. The mayor receives no additional compensation for service on other boards or commissions.
Elkins ’ population is estimated at about 2, 700, according to Oelrich’s survey. The city does not operate its utilities to the extent Prairie Grove does. Elkins buys its water and sewer treatment services from Fayetteville but maintains its own lines. The city does its own billing and collecting and has its own water department.
“ As you get more systems and more employees and all that, then the mayor’s job does become more difficult, takes more hours. I think at a certain point, every city has to look at that, ” Ladyman said.
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