The City Council on June 15 unanimously approved five ordinances that increase the mayor’s salary and the stipends paid to city councilors, School Committee members and the elected trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School and establish an annual 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for those officials beginning in fiscal year 2025.

The pay increases were recommended by the Elected Officials Compensation Advisory Board that is required by city ordinance to review “the adequacy and equity of the compensation, benefits and expense allowances of municipal elected officials” at least once every 10 years. The board members who served this year are Chair John Bidwell, Vice Chair Peter Whalen, Tara Brewster, Felicia Corbeil, Deb Henson, Sam Hopper and Javier Luengo Garrido.

The advisory board reported to the City Council on May 18 that increasing diversity was a key goal during its review of compensation for elected officials: “Encouraging a fair elected representation of the City’s diversity, especially underserved communities that traditionally have not been well-represented and historically have been denied equity, is most beneficial to the City as a whole.”

The ordinances:

• Increase the mayor’s annual salary from $92,500 to $130.000. It was last adjusted in 2016, increasing from $80,000.
• Increase the annual stipends paid to city councilors from $9,000 (ward councilors) and $9,500 (at-large councilors) to $16,900 for all. The City Council president’s stipend will rise from $10,000 to $21,000. The stipends were last adjusted in 2016 when they increased from $5,000.
• Increase the annual stipends paid to School Committee members from $5,000 (ward members) and $5,500 (at-large members) to $9,300 for all. They were last increased in 2016 from $2,500.
• Increase the annual stipends paid to the elected trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School from $5,000 to $9,300. They were last increased in 2016 from $2,500.
• Establish a 2 percent annual cost of living adjustment for elected officials beginning in fiscal year 2025 during the years that the advisory board does not convene.

The pay increases take effect Jan. 2, 2024, with a total cost of about $80,000 for the rest of the fiscal year through June 30, 2024.

I support the mayor’s pay increase – which averages about 5 percent annually for the eight years since the last raise – because it puts that position – the chief executive officer of the city – closer to the top tier of pay for municipal employees in Northampton.

I support the higher stipends for part-time elected officials as part of a broader effort to reduce barriers to service and increase diversity in municipal government. This is only the second raise received by those officials in at least 34 years.

And I support the annual cost-of-living adjustment because it provides a predictable raise for employees in those years when the Elected Officials Compensation Advisory Board does not conduct a formal review.

The Elected Officials Compensation Advisory Board’s full report is available here: https://northamptonma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/21381?fileID=180331

Regulating trash collection

The City Council on June 15 unanimously approved two ordinances that tighten the regulation of hours when commercial trash haulers may operate in the city. I cosponsored the ordinances with Council President James Nash and Ward 6 Councilor Marianne LaBarge. The goal is to remove any ambiguity about where trash haulers may operate legally in the downtown area outside the hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

One ordinance clarifies the city’s noise ordinance by specifying that trash and recyclable materials may be collected only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., except for:

• Properties in the downtown Central Business Core District, where there is no time restriction.
• Properties in the Florence Village Center Districts, where collection is allowed between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
• Municipally owned receptacles in the downtown public way, where there is no time restriction.

The second ordinance increases the fine for a first violation from $20 to $50, and for second and subsequent violations from $50 to $100.

Violations should be reported to Emergency Dispatch (which receives calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) by calling 413-587-1100 with information about the time and location of the offense. Emergency Dispatch will record those details and send them to the Department of Public Works, which will issue the fines, and collect any that are unpaid when a trash hauler’s license is renewed annually.

25-mph default speed limit

The City Council on June 15 voted unanimously to adopt an option allowed by the state establishing 25 miles per hour as the default speed limit for all roads in thickly settled residential and business districts. That reduction from the state-mandated 30-mph default speed limit will take effect beginning July 1 on all roads in Northampton that are otherwise not posted.

The order approved by the City Council notes that lower travel speeds increase safety and “provide additional benefits, including reduced noise, greater neighborhood cohesiveness, increased physical activity and more equitable access to transportation (because people feel safer walking and cycling)”.

Family Fourth

The 11th annual Northampton Family Fourth Celebration at Look Memorial Park will start at 5 p.m., Saturday, June 24.

The event will include games, music, food trucks, health and wellness activities, and fireworks beginning at dusk.

Donations are still needed to help pay the $30,000 estimated cost of the event. Further information is available at: northamptonfamilyfourth.com.

Stan