Bangor OKs raise for councilors

BANGOR – Voters by a 2-to-1 ratio on Tuesday decided that 50 years without a raise was too long.

With 67 percent of voters in favor, city councilors here – beginning in 2004 – will earn $2,000 each year instead of the $400 stipend they have received since 1951.

“It’s a long time coming,” said outgoing Mayor John Rohman, a major backer of the charter change. “This will certainly open up the door for everyone to run, not just those who can afford it.”

Under the new pay schedule, the mayor will receive $2,500 each year.

The measure drew 3,507 people to the polls Tuesday, with 2,338 in favor and 1,169 opposed, according to unofficial results. That number was well in excess of the 2,811 votes – or 30 percent of the last gubernatorial election – needed to change the city’s charter.

At the polls Tuesday, voters by and large said that increasing the pay 400 percent to $2,000 was not unreasonable considering the time city councilors devote to the position, about 10 hours a week, some estimate.

“It wasn’t a lot of money for what they do,” Christine Noddin of Lincoln Street said of her vote for the pay increase, which she hoped would help offset travel, child care and election costs for the councilors. “It shouldn’t cost them money to do a civic duty.”

For comparison, Portland city councilors receive $4,843 with an annual increase, while councilors in Lewiston receive a flat $2,700 each year. Under the Bangor plan, the council would not receive an annual adjustment.

Several people polled Tuesday said they didn’t favor the increase – with one voter giving the “thumbs down” when asked about his position on the issue and another supporting a lesser increase.

“It’s not a full-time job,” said 35-year-old Elliott Scott after voting at the east side’s Mary Snow School. “I think it’s more of a volunteer thing.”

Six years ago, a council-initiated drive to increase the pay to $1,500 failed at the polls 60 percent to 40 percent. This year, the council voted 7-2 to place the initiative on the ballot, but the proposal came from a citizens’ committee.

The pay raise will not take effect until after the municipal election of 2004 to ensure that no current council members would benefit from the change.

The last time voters increased the council’s pay came in 1951, when the stipend was raised from $0 to $400.