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Fire chief's pay raise approved, but lower
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
LEALMAN -- Fire commissioners unanimously agreed to give Chief Rick Graham a 4 percent raise, substantially less than the board chairman's earlier recommendation. Graham's salary increases to $70,585 a year -- about $2,000 less than the chief would have pocketed had the board granted him the 7 percent raise that Mike Brophy proposed. Although the vote was unanimous, commissioners began the discussion on a discordant note. Brophy said the newest board member, John Frank, should be disqualified from voting on the matter because he wasn't on the commission when Graham should have gotten the raise. The raise was delayed because board member Bill Adams failed to turn in his evaluation of Graham's job performance. Brophy went ahead and compiled the results without Adams' input. Commission attorney Andrew Salzman ruled that Frank would vote because he was a board member at the time of the vote. Later in the debate, Brophy suggested that former board member Kathleen Litton, who was in the audience, might have something to say. Frank defeated Litton in the November election. Litton directed her comment to Salzman. "I don't understand why you have a commissioner voting for this who wasn't on the board for the past year," Litton said. Said Salzman, "It's the law." When someone is elected to office, the attorney said, he or she takes over the duties of the office and is required to vote on all issues unless there is a conflict of interest. The remainder of the discussion centered on whether the chief's job evaluations, which praised his performance, required that he receive a high raise. Brophy said they did, saying the high evaluations meant "we agreed on a 7 percent raise." But other board members said the two issues were separate. A high performance evaluation doesn't necessarily translate into a big raise, they said. Other items, such as the economy and the budget, must be considered. The taxpayers also must be considered, Adams said. Lealman has some of the poorest people in the county, who are struggling to pay high fire taxes. Those people, he said, are not getting huge raises. "I'd love for (Graham) to get a 10 percent raise, but let's be realistic," Adams said. He suggested a 3 percent raise, the minimum allowed by the chief's contract. "I think that would be more fair to his constituents," Adams said. "We are all working for the public." Commission member Becky Harriman suggested 4 percent. "There's going to be some controversy with anything over 4 percent," Harriman said. Adams moved to grant Graham a 4 percent raise, retroactive to Oct. 3, the date the raise was due. Frank seconded it. Graham thanked the commission, saying, "I'm glad to get that off my plate." Brophy then chided Adams for failing to turn in the job evaluation on time.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
