What’s a good City Council member worth? Well, you can argue the “good” part all you want, but in Dallas they get $50 a meeting-between $3,000 and $4,000 a year, depending on how many meetings they attend. No health benefits. No overtime. And most council members say they work more than thirty hours a week (some say more than sixty).
Try some comparisons and you’ll see that other cities have different opinions of their council members’ worth. Nashville pays $5,500; Jacksonville, Florida, $21,000; Denver. $27,000; Philadelphia. $40,000; and Detroit, a whopping $60,000. Break the Dallas figures down using the $4,000 annual figure and a forty-hour week, and your council members haul home a niggardly $1.92 per hour; using the current minimum wage of $3.35 an hour and a forty-hour week, their yearly salary would be $6,968.
By contrast, the typical executive director of a nonprofit organization in Dallas makes in the $35,000 range, and a typical president of a large corporation receives more than $200,000 in salary and benefits.
The Dallas Citizens Charter Review Committee has been formed to take a look at, among other things, the salary of council members. They will make a recommendation by June 1.
In the meantime, we asked several City Council watchers what they think council members should be paid:
●Becky Sykes, administrative assistant to the chairman of Greyhound Lines Inc. and community volunteer: “Enough to cover their expenses but not so much as to be an attraction in itself. I think somewhere in the $15,000 to $20,000 range.”
● Richard Lucero, executivedirector of the Dallas IntertribalCenter: “I run a medical clinic,and I know the clients don’t think they get as good a service as when they pay for it. You might be able to attract a more qualified person to run. especially from the minority community. I think maybe $55,000 to $65,000 a year.”
●Lisa Saemann, president ofS.L. Ewing Company Inc. office machines company: “Ithink you cannot make the payso high that people seek it justfor the pay itself and not to servethe city. I think $10,000 to$11,000 a year. Certainly notmore than $20,000.”
●Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman of Temple Emanu-EI: “it’s almost ludicrous to pay them only $50 a meeting. I’d rather leave [selling an amount] to people more knowledgeable than myself, but it should not be so much as to be able to live solely and only off that amount.”
●Dr. Catalina E. Garcia, anesthesiologist at Baylor: “A salary would help give access to a council base for women and minorities. I think it should be in the $35,000 to $50,000 range. I don’t think it should be really high, but it should be enough to pay some bills.”
●Billy Allen, president ofMinority Search Inc.: “It mightbe a psychological thing that|council members] would haveto be more beholden to theirconstituents [if they were paid asalary]. But I’ve not completely made up my mind.”
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