That politically ticklish subject of how much elected officials should be paid is surfacing again, as the Howard County Council prepares to approve a charter-required seven-member Compensation Review Commission to study the issue and make recommendations by Dec. 15. The County Council will then vote on salaries for the next county executive and council, starting in December 2010.
Currently, County Executive Ken Ulman and all five council members are expected to run for re-election, so they will have to be careful, since the issue will be voted on just as the election year begins.
"It certainly is tricky and an easy political target in tough economic times," Ulman said. "It's a difficult dance, if you will, because we are public servants."
If council members try to impress voters with their penchant for sacrifice, as during the recession of 2002 when the council opted for no pay increase for the succeeding term, the result can be pay that is low compared with surrounding jurisdictions. Playing catch-up later can look bad, as when the last council approved a 44 percent increase for council pay in 2006.
An automatic annual adjustment can eliminate sudden large changes, but if a big recession hits, those same automatic increases can prove embarrassing.
Most officials are reluctant to talk much about what they should be paid, because it's so easy to appear self-serving even though the law prohibits current officials from altering their salaries during a four-year term of office.
"I think elected officials should not be involved in determining their own pay. That's why we have a compensation commission," said Councilwoman Jennifer Terrasa, a King's Contrivance Democrat. Each council member names one commission member and the executive chooses two.
Others offered additional general points, but said they don't want to influence the commission members before they even start work.
Council chairwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, a west Columbia Democrat, for example, said elected officials shouldn't get percentage raises higher than other county workers, and east Columbia Democrat Calvin Ball said pay must be high enough to attract quality candidates, "even if they are not wealthy."
Fulton Republican Greg Fox said the commission should consider current fiscal realities, and any annual increases should be strictly limited.
Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat, joined Fox in recommending that pay be in tune with the job's part-time nature.
