SOUTH PORTLAND – The city of South Portland is accepting applications until Feb. 21 to serve on a group that will make recommendations on City Council compensation that could go before voters in November.
Applicants must be residents of South Portland or own a business in the city. There are no other qualifications to sit on the “blue-ribbon committee.” However, no applicant will be accepted who has served on the council within the past decade.
No membership limit has been announced for the commission, although councilors did express a preference for between seven and 10 seats when turning over responsibility for staffing the group at a Jan. 7 meeting.
City Manager Jim Gailey subsequently hired Michael C. Wing of Harpswell-based Human Resources/Labor Relations Consulting Service at $110 per hour to lead the group. Because Wing’s total bill is expected to be less than $15,000, Gailey did not need permission from the council to secure Wing’s services.
Wing is expected to announce his selections to the committee on March 4. He will then guide the group though a statewide study of compensation packages for municipal officers, along with the preparation of a report and recommendations to the city council. Pay for school board members and “other committees that fall under the city’s umbrella” also will be on the table for discussion and possible revision. The results could go on the November ballot as a charter amendment.
The issue of council pay has percolated for more than a year and stems from a lawsuit-generating debate over a health insurance benefit enjoyed by councilors since 1977. No mention of the benefit is made in the city charter, which limits council compensation to a $3,000 stipend.
On Sept. 5, the council voted 5-2 to end the tax-funded health plan, effective Nov. 30, 2013. Prior to the November elections, four councilors received the benefit. Currently, only Mayor Tom Blake and Councilor Gerard Jalbert have coverage. Blake has a family plan that reportedly costs taxpayers $14,418, while Jalbert has individual policy, at a cost of $3,566.
According to City Clerk Susan Mooney, the committee will have to complete its work in time for a public hearing no later than Sept. 4. That would allow the council to pass a ballot order on Sept. 13, the last day it can make deadlines for printing and distributing absentee ballots for a November referendum.
Mooney said in order for any charter amendment to pass, at least 30 percent of the residents who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election most participate in any vote. A simple majority for the 3,419-voter minimum turnout can pass any charter amendment, she said.
On Monday, Gailey said “we will have to look into” whether application materials will be released to the public. The city routinely provides such material when appointments are made to municipal boards and committees. However, in November, City Attorney Sally Daggett denied a Freedom of Access Act request from The Current for resumes and letters of interest submitted by six applicants to a vacant school board seat, eventually awarded to Mary House.
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