Tucson commission: After two decades, mayor and council members deserve raise, vote yes on Prop. 409

Any business owner knows that to attract the best employees, you have to offer a competitive salary.

All of us are owners of a large and important business venture: The city of Tucson. And it is time for us to offer competitive salaries to our seven most important employees: the mayor and members of the City Council.

Doing so would cost each of us about only about 2 cents per month; less than a quarter annually.

It has long been unpopular to increase the salaries paid to our elected officials. So unpopular that they have not received a raise for two decades.

That is plainly unfair — and bad for business.

By not offering salaries that are even marginally competitive, we severely limit the number of people who can afford to seek these critically important positions.

Tucson’s city charter requires that every two years a commission be established to review the salaries of elected officials. Seven volunteers, including the five of us, were appointed by the city manager to conduct a study and report our recommendations, which are then placed on the ballot.

The bipartisan group of us recommended that the annual salary of the mayor be increased from $42,000 to $63,128; and that the annual salary of council members be increased from $24,000 to $42,081.

These numbers were not drawn out of thin air. The recommended increases would mean council members would earn the median household income for the city, as measured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The final decision will be made by you, the voters, as Proposition 409 on the November general election ballot.

We understand those would be substantial raises. They are bigger raises then any of us received in the past year. But this is why we made this recommendation:

The mayor and council members have not received a raise since 1999. Since then, inflation reduced their income by 51%, while the city population grew by 10% and the city budget grew by 45%.

Increasing the salaries would make it possible for a larger number of people to seek the offices. With the current salary, the pool of potential candidates tilts largely to people who are independently wealthy, have a spouse with a well-paying job or are retired. A higher salary would allow more people, including those with a business background, to seek these important positions.

Increasing the salaries would allow the mayor and council members the flexibility to be more available to their constituents, to meet the demands of their elected positions and to meet the expectations of we, their bosses.

Tucsonans have entrusted the mayor and council with substantial responsibilities in recent years. Voters have approved $225 million in parks bonds, $100 million in street repair bonds and a half-cent sales tax increase for police and fire equipment and infrastructure improvements.

Voters also have entrusted the mayor and council with overseeing the successful revitalization of commercial and residential development in downtown Tucson.

Tucson’s business leaders know that this is a reasonable and overdue request. That’s why the proposal has been endorsed by the Tucson Metro Chamber.

We are asking the mayor and council to oversee what is essentially a corporation with a $1.5 billion budget. Yet our council members earn less than minimum wage.

That does not encourage the best and the brightest seeking to lead our city.

Vote yes on Proposition 409. It’s right for Tucson.