Commission approves own wage hike

It’s been 28 years since a Hobbs city commissioner received a pay raise. And it’s been 17 years since the mayor of Hobbs also received a pay increase for duties entailed.

During its monthly meeting on Tuesday, the Hobbs City Commission changed that by agreeing to a pay increase for future members by a 4-2 count. Commissioners Don Gerth, Joe Calderon, Patricia Taylor and Mayor Sam Cobb voted for the pay increase, while Commissioners Garry Buie and Marshall Newman voted no. Commissioner Cynthia Calderon was not in attendance.

But while it had been almost three decades since commissioners received pay raises, Hobbs City Attorney Mike Stone said the reason for the pay increase was because the city’s charter requires an amendment to the salaries by ordinance.

Since 1989, each city commissioner was paid an annual salary of $4,800, or $400 per month. That salary increases to $12,000, or $1,000 a month. The mayor’s salary was voted to increase from $18,000 to $26,000.

But this doesn’t mean the commissioners gave themselves a raise. According to the ordinance, the pay increases go into effect following the next election of each position. In March, there will be elections in Districts 2, 4, 5 and 6. Those pay increases are set to start with the new fiscal year on July 1, that way they can be appropriately budgeted by the city. Elections for Districts 1, 3 and the mayor’s position, takes place in March 2020, with the pay increase scheduled to start the new fiscal year of July 1, 2020 because additional budgeting is needed.

Stone said the reason for the long delay in the pay increases was because of the touchy nature of a voting body approving its own pay increases.

“I understand why that it is,” Stone said during Tuesday’s presentation. body, the commissioners, are making the decision on how much money they make. That’s a touchy situation. For the record, no one has requested that we do this, but given the nature of the business of being a city commissioner and a mayor in the size of Hobbs has changed substantially in the past 17 or 28 years. We are a multimillion dollar business and the decisions that this commission makes are serious issues and require, I believe, a significant amount of time and energy.”

Stone believes the pay increases encourage good people to come and be a part of the process of participating in city government.

“But more importantly, it compensates reasonably the amount of time that’s required to do this job effectively,” Stone added.

Three of the four incumbents in the four districts up for election in March have announced their decision to run for office. District 4 Commissioner Joe Calderon is seeking his seventh term, while Commissioners Cynthia Calderon (Dist. 2) and Don Gerth (Dist. 6) are seeking their first official term. They were each previously chosen by the commission to fill the terms of their predecessors Jonathan Sena and John Boyd. Buie, who represents District 5, is not seeking re-election.

That means District 1 Commissioner Marshall Newman, District 3 Commissioner Patricia Taylor and Mayor Sam Cobb would be scheduled for a potential re-election bid in March 2020. Until then, their annual salaries will remain at $4,800 and $17,000, respectively.

Stone said city staff did research in determining what a reasonable amount of pay is required for the positions.

“Yes, it’s a big increase, but it hasn’t been increased in 28 years,” Stone said. “I’m not sure anyone would work for job that hasn’t had a raise in 28 years. We just need to be realistic about this.”

Before the ordinance could be voted on, it required 30 days for public input and comment. Stone said his office did not receive any input from the community regarding the issue. When news of the ordinance change was published on the News-Sun’s Facebook page, several negative comments were made. However just before the commission voted, another opportunity to speak on the measure was given and no one from the comments came forth.

Buie said he had two reasons for voting against the issue. The first being that in 2017, when the commission voted on pay increases to city staff, he voted no because he questioned whether the city had enough money as the local economy continued its recovery.

“I felt the idea of then voting to give commissioners a pay raise would not sit well with city employees and the general public,” Buie said. “That was one of the main reasons that I did vote against it.”

Buie’s second reason was that he feels that someone who wishes to represent the City of Hobbs should not be paid to do so.

“I knew what the salary was going to be before I ran for this position,” Buie said. “I didn’t run for this position for the money or any benefits. If you are going to run for an elected position, I don’t think you should be doing it for the money. First and foremost, it’s a privilege to your city. I represent the whole city, not just District 5. If I had to do it again and still not get paid for it, I’d still do it.”

Public service was Newman’s reason for also voting against the measure.

“When I ran for public service in 2012, I don’t think I asked what the salary was,” he said. “I don’t do this job for the money. Never have.”

Todd Bailey can be reached at editor@hobbsnews.com.