Palmer says he 'made a mistake' by voting for pay increases; will vote no on second reading

After hearing from constituents of the Fifth Ward, Council Member Shaun Palmer has decided to change his position on council pay increases.

“I am constantly seeking the input on the city council [about] the pay raises, and they have made clear that I made a mistake in my last vote,” Palmer said Monday during the council’s final study session of the year.

Earlier this month, the council voted to raise the salaries of elected officials to more than double what they earn now. Under the new policy, their pay would be tied to the area median income (council at 80 percent AMI; council president at 92 percent AMI; and mayor at 120 percent AMI). The move followed years of relatively small increases, or no increases at all.

Palmer joined five of his fellow council members in initially approving the new salary formula. However, since that time, social media threads and email inboxes have lit up with criticism over the pay increases.

“They are angry about what we did,” said Palmer. “We did not just raise our salary; we doubled it. We didn’t just double it; we made it so it almost always goes up. And that’s wrong and it’s lazy.”

The argument in favor of the council’s action, as noted in an opinion article published here on Dec. 3, is that the higher salaries are likely to make the positions “more accessible to a greater variety of people.”

But Palmer, who joined the council earlier this year, disagreed with that assessment — arguing that he’s “seen zero facts that say increasing our salary will lead to better council members or a more diverse council.”

The council will have a second reading on the policy when it reconvenes after the holiday break. As of now, there is no indication that any other council member will change their vote. Mayor Kim Norton, who has the ability to veto the action, has stated her support for the increases.

"This is something that has needed to happen for a long time to keep up with the kind of community we have," Norton said, according to a Dec. 5 report from KTTC-TV. "We are not a small town; we are a growing community. These changes need to occur.”

For further reading, you can read my analysis of the issue here.

Note: This will likely be my last city government report of the year. We have some exciting moves taking place for 2020 to elevate our coverage of City Hall, as well as other core areas of coverage, such as business and culture. As always, thank you for following along and trusting us with your time.

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.