Commission approves 3% council pay benchmark, rejects open hire provision for council staff

The Charter Vision Commission voted to recommend that council member compensation be set at an amount equal to 3% of the mayor’s salary, effective with the specified election cycle in the draft charter. Commissioners who favored a salary‑based approach argued it provides clarity and avoids the administrative complexity of an expense‑reimbursement model; those opposed said the state law restrictions and political optics make a salary increase a difficult sell.

During the same meeting the commission considered a proposed charter provision that would have explicitly allowed the City Council to appoint additional employees (beyond the existing assistant clerk) and obligate the Board of Estimate and Taxation to appropriate funds. Commissioners discussed multiple concerns tied to union rules, payroll classification, supervision, office space, procurement and how such hires would be budgeted. After debate the commission did not approve the broad hire‑authority language; commissioners asked counsel to draft narrower, constrained language for future consideration, and they approved moving the assistant city clerk position to the council chapter of the charter where appropriate.

Decision vs. discussion: the commission approved the compensation approach (3% of mayor salary) but did not approve the unrestricted authority allowing the council to hire additional employees without defined guardrails. Commissioners asked counsel to prepare constrained draft language that would set limits, clarify funding and require normal budgetary review.

Ending: Counsel will draft the approved compensation language and produce a revised, narrower staffing provision for review at the follow‑up meeting.