Chicopee ordinance committee approves pay-parity change for two mayor’s office positions

The Chicopee City Ordinance Committee on Monday, March 10, approved an amendment to Chapter 7 of the city ordinances to equalize salaries for two positions in the mayor’s office — the special projects manager and the community and constituent liaison — in a 4–0 roll-call vote. The ordinance change was read into the record as operative Feb. 18, 2025, and will go before a special meeting at 6:30 p.m.

Mayor John View told the committee the change is intended to create pay parity between two existing staff positions by combining some duties and splitting compensation evenly. "What you have in front of you is, 2 of my office staff. What we decided to do is to create some pay parity. I had 1 position that paid actually a lot more than the other," View said. He added that the positions will "work in tandem together on those special projects in addition to their concurrent duties."

The mayor said the salary adjustment will not increase the mayor’s office budget beyond scheduled contractual raises under the nonunion salary scale. "It doesn't cost the taxpayers anything. It's not gonna change the budget other than what everyone else is gonna be getting for contractual raises," he said. View identified staffing changes tied to the amendment: Rachel Bowden will be brought in as a communications special projects director, and Monica will remain as the constituent liaison with additional special-project duties.

Committee members called the question and closed public input before taking the roll-call vote. The recorded roll call lines show Krampitz, Arriaga, Labrie and Roy voting "yes"; no "no," abstentions, or recusals were recorded. The committee chair said the ordinance update "has been approved 4 to 0" and confirmed it will appear on the special meeting agenda at 6:30 p.m.

In the same meeting the committee approved minutes from Jan. 27, 2025, by roll call and then adjourned. The meeting included in-person and Zoom attendance; the mayor’s chief of staff Mike Pease, city attorney Tim Riley and administrative assistant Agnes were noted as attending.

The ordinance text was read at the meeting and specifies amendments to salary lines in Chapter 7 but the transcript does not provide a clean, page-accurate copy of the exact ordinance language or a complete numeric breakdown beyond the mayor’s read statement. The ordinance was described in the meeting as rearranging existing budgeted amounts to equalize pay rather than adding new funds. No additional department budget transfers, funding sources, or detailed job descriptions were included in the discussion record.

Votes at a glance: ordinance amendment to Chapter 7 — approved 4–0 (Krampitz, Arriaga, Labrie, Roy); motion and roll call to approve Jan. 27, 2025 minutes — approved; motion to adjourn — approved.

The committee did not take further action on pay scales beyond forwarding the approved amendment to the upcoming special meeting for final consideration by the full council or council body specified on that agenda.