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Mayoral candidates outline different approaches to county employee pay
Summary
Candidates agreed pay and retention are priorities but differed on approach: incumbent Mayor Randall Hutto cited past pay studies, step systems and targeted raises (including recent sheriff's and paramedic increases); challengers emphasized operational audits, efficiency and pay-for-performance tied to retention and development.
At a Wilson County mayoral forum, each candidate identified pay and retention as a top concern for county employees, teachers and first responders.
Christina Puza Smith, a Wilson County teacher and candidate, said the county must improve operational efficiency to fund raises and recommended audits of spending. "The county makes, quote me if I'm slightly wrong, 550 ish million dollars a year," she said to underline the scale of annual revenues and the need to find internal efficiencies. Gail Hellum called for competitive pay paired with professional development and retention incentives, noting that the "county commission has raised salaries 5 years in a row." Incumbent Mayor Randall Hutto described reforms his administration helped implement: regional pay studies, a step system giving roughly 2% annual steps and referendum-driven increases for teacher pay. He cited targeted recent raises, including an "11%" increase for the sheriff's department and special adjustments for paramedics and WEMA personnel.
Candidates framed solutions differently: challengers advocated audits and pay-for-performance, while the mayor emphasized incremental, system-wide step increases and using development-driven revenue to avoid tax hikes. All three said raising pay will remain an ongoing fiscal challenge.
