The City Council on Monday approved significant raises for Portland’s top attorney and clerk.
City Clerk Katherine Jones received a 17 percent raise, increasing her annual salary by nearly $14,000 to $92,960. Also, Corporation Counsel Danielle West-Chuhta received an 11 percent raise, increasing her salary by nearly $13,400 to $131,250.
The raises largely sailed under the radar during a meeting agenda that included proposals to combat housing insecurity, to sell a piece of city-owned land to facilitate a major development on the eastern waterfront, and moratoriums on building next to public parks and on establishing marijuana retail stores.
City Councilor Justin Costa, who chairs the council’s nominations committee, which oversees the review process of the three employees who report directly to the City Council, was the only councilor to speak to the issue.
“This includes performance-related increases and substantial salary-related adjustments to align ourselves better with the market and create some equity amongst our department heads, especially as it relates to the city clerk,” Costa said while introducing the item to the council.
According to a memo to the council, Jones received a 12 percent equity increase – a figure based on a 2015 survey by the Maine Municipal Association that found that clerks in Bangor, Brunswick and Lewiston all earned more than Portland’s clerk. Bangor’s clerk made $83,245, Brunswick’s clerk earned $92,685 and Lewiston didn’t provide details.
The memo, prepared by Portland’s Human Resources Director Gina Tapp, also noted that the lowest-paid department head in Portland, besides Jones, earned $100,000 annually.
West-Chuhta, meanwhile, received a 6 percent equity raise. The memo says that the city had to increase the salaries of two associate corporation counsel positions in order to attract candidates. “We were simply not able to attract the level of attorneys we needed to fill the two vacancies that occurred earlier in the year,” Tapp said in her memo.
City attorneys in Lowell and Newton, Massachusetts, earn $128,670 and $140,000, respectively, the memo says, while attorneys in Nashua and Manchester, New Hampshire, earn $67,550-$113,500 and $103,900-$152,600 respectively.
Jones and West-Chuhta also each earned a 3 percent merit raise and a 2 percent cost of living adjustment. Each received a 3 percent raise last year and a 4 percent raise in 2014.
The clerk, corporation counsel and the city manager all report directly to the City Council. City Manager Jon Jennings earns $148,100.
Portland’s current budget authorizes 1,283 employees with a municipal payroll of $72.5 million.
Randy Billings can be contacted at 791-6346 or at:
Twitter: randybillings
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