Councilors raise concern over advertised CIO salary as pay‑plan ordinance would raise range
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Summary
Councilors debated a proposed pay‑plan ordinance that renames the IT director position to chief information officer and raises the salary scale; Councilor Farwell noted the city is advertising the CIO at a lower range with applications closing Feb. 20 and warned the ordinance could change the applicant pool if enacted after hiring.
Councilors on Feb. 9 discussed a proposed amendment to the city's pay plan that would rename job classifications and change salary scales, and one councilor raised a potential conflict between the pay‑plan change and the city's ongoing hiring advertisement for the IT director position.
The ordinance read into the record would amend Article 3, Section 2‑127 by removing the DPW financial business manager category, renaming the IT director to "chief information officer" and adding new deputy commissioner positions with specified minimum and top step salaries. The clerk read proposed salaries for the CIO position at a new minimum of $156,751 and a top step of $171,286.
Councilor Farwell noted that the city has already advertised the IT director position with a closing date of Feb. 20 at a lower salary range ($140,000–$151,818) and asked whether the council was aware of that timing. "We have already advertised that position and as a matter of fact, it's the closing date is February 20," Farwell said, and warned that the ordinance "would dramatically increase a salary for that position, which could have a profound effect on the applicant pool" and could result in hiring at one salary level and then raising it if the ordinance is approved.
Legislative council responded that advertising must reflect the current (existing) salary and that the discretion to hold off or repost the position after a council salary decision rests with the executive. "It's not like any sort of legal concern in terms of what you can or cannot do as an ordinance committee," legislative council said, adding the executive retains discretion whether to repost. The clerk and legislative council said decisions about posting and hiring timeline could be addressed by the executive branch if the ordinance is enacted.
The proposed ordinance was referred to the ordinance committee for further review; the record shows this topic will return for committee consideration before final adoption. Councilor Farwell asked that the concern be entered into the record for the ordinance committee's consideration.
Next steps: the ordinance will proceed through the ordinance committee where members may examine timing, advertised salary, and any potential personnel or hiring implications before the council takes a final vote.
