LV council approves raises for future mayors, members

The Las Vegas City Council approved raises for the mayor and council members Wednesday, meaning that future Las Vegas officeholders will be paid substantially more than the current crop of elected officials.

"It will not be effective for anybody who is a sitting council member or mayor," said Mayor Oscar Goodman, who noted that elected bodies can invite criticism by voting for raises. "We are not going to benefit from this as we sit here today."

With raising salaries, the ordinance establishes a $600 monthly car allowance for the mayor and makes the mayor's position a full-time job. Council positions remain part time.

The vote to approve was 6-1, with Councilman Larry Brown voting no because council positions were not made full time.

"I can't support the part-time status with the salary increase," he said.

The changes take effect after elections are held for council seats and the mayor's chair. Wards 2, 4 and 6 are up for election in 2009. Wards 1, 3 and 5 and the mayor's slot will be on the ballot in 2011.

Goodman and Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese cannot seek re-election because of term limits, and Brown has announced plans to run for the Clark County Commission.

When the raises are in place, City Council members will be paid 90 percent of what Clark County commissioners are paid. The mayor will be paid 180 percent of a City Council member's salary.

In 2009, the new council pay would be $69,247. Amounts for 2011 cannot be calculated because the commissioner salaries have not been set for that year, but based on the 2009 amounts, the mayor's salary will more than double to upwards of $120,000 a year.

Currently, council members are paid $46,681 annually, and the mayor makes $61,327.

The offices are considered part-time jobs, meaning the mayor and council are allowed to accept outside employment.

Goodman has treated the position as a full-time job, and other council members have said they put in full-time hours too often in addition to day jobs.

"I know I work full-time, and I'm pretty sure everybody else does too," Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian said.

But Knight Allen, a professional investor and longtime government finance watchdog, criticized the raises.

"These elected officials should give some consideration to the financial situation of the taxpayers they're elected to serve, and they don't," he said.

"If you asked the mayor and council how they came up with these numbers, they'd say they looked carefully around. But they didn't look at the ordinary citizen."

Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, said that with council salaries set to rise to full-time levels, perhaps the positions should be full-time.

"Either we pay enhanced salaries with benefits and have a full-time board, or maintain a citizen elected-board and have pay commensurate with a part-time wage," she said. "Those salaries for a part-time job, they're quite high."

Allen said having a full-time council would not be in the best interest of Las Vegans.

"You find me a place where a full-time, highly paid professional government produces anything but corruption and criminality, and I'd like to know where that is. Chicago? New York?

"Take a look at California. What are they getting for their full-time governments?"

The last time council members received anything greater than a cost-of-living raise was in 1986. In the intervening years, Las Vegas' population, geographic boundaries and budget have grown substantially.

"We're a different town. We were a small town in 1986. We were a cow town in many respects," Goodman said.

Assistant City Editor Michael Squires contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or (702) 229-6435.