Beyond the Headlines: Council Pay Raise

The Common Council Executive Committee has addressed Alder Pay at various meetings this year (clips included below). However, the press only found the topic interesting after I introduced it at the last Council meeting. I hope this blog provides additional information and a better understanding of my perspective.

One of the articles that caught my attention came from a community leader. Given his experience with city dynamics, I expected to hear a compelling argument against or in favor of the changes. Instead, the article is a narrative of his personal opinion, revealing more about the author than the topic of alder pay increases.

The article starts with "Nobody runs for the Madison City Council for the pay and perks." I came to realize Alders got paid when HR asked for my bank account to deposit the check. Alder Pay rate is not a perk!

This Council is the most diverse in the city's history, but looking at it only from the perspective of race and gender identities is an oversight. This Council is also diverse in vocational qualifications and financial stability. A third of Council members are not lawyers or business owners or wealthy or came from wealth. Hence, comparing the Council's makeup and salary against Senators and Congressional members is as ridiculous as to say that alders are "modestly compensated"!

I was clueless when thinking that the Alder's duties equated to volunteering responsibilities. As a volunteer, I signed up for weekly fixed schedules that allowed me to prioritize family and work. As an alder, I signed up for 20'some hours a week, which, in my clueless mind, equated to weekends and two (2) council meetings a month. 

The Job of an alder is more than showing up at meetings and having a selfie collection. It requires research, attention to detail, analytical skills, and understanding of city ordinances and state statutes. Building trusting and effective relationships across agencies, community members, institutions outside city boundaries, and other elected officials requires work and time.

City staff's regular work schedule is Monday to Friday, so the idea of dedicating weekends to the Council immediately dissipated. The phone calls & emails don't recognize time or holidays. Council duties do not require answering the phone on Christmas Eve, but I will not apologize for answering e-mails and calls.

The passion for serving the community affects family, social life, self-care, and work! Stepping up to run involves more than the "right reasons"! No matter how pure the reasons or how well-intended the motivation to run, this is a job, not a volunteer opportunity.

I am one of the few alders who doesn't have a college degree but have a demanding full-time lucrative job and a husband who is already retired. Other alders live on fixed incomes, have small children, care for their elders, have more than one Job to sustain themselves, live paycheck to paycheck, juggle college, pay for college loans, or work in jobs requiring high emotional labor. Despite their additional responsibilities, they put the time in to complete the work! Compensation should follow those efforts.

The proposal does not ask for full-time employment status or wages to support a family. The increase will support covering the cost of rent, groceries, daycare, or dropping a third part-time job to serve as Alder.

The 2021 referendum indicated that 70% of voters believed that the city of Madison needs 20 alders to represent them,