The Fairbanks City Council failed an ordinance Monday that would’ve given the mayor a roughly 55% pay raise. The measure got voted down at its first reading, meaning it died earlier than most.
Councilmember Crystal Tidwell proposed increasing the annual pay for the mayor of the City of Fairbanks from about $88,000 to $136,000, effective early next year. That would’ve brought the salary roughly in line with some of the lower-paid city department heads and slightly above the Fairbanks North Star Borough mayor’s salary.
The city mayor’s pay last increased in 2021, when it went up by $1,300 to its current amount.
Tidwell's measure made its first appearance at a regular city council meeting Monday. The ordinance was on the consent agenda, putting it on the typical track of advancing to a public hearing and vote at the council’s next regular meeting.
But Councilmember Jerry Cleworth pulled it from the consent agenda, allowing the council to debate the pay raise and take a vote on whether the ordinance would move forward to that final step.
Tidwell said she expects a city mayor to work 40 hours a week or more, and that the current pay could inhibit people from running.
“I feel like the mayor’s salary is behind what it should be,” she said. “I think that this is a conversation that we should have. If there’s a different amount that we want to talk about, I feel open to that, too. I just feel like people’s time should be compensated.”
Cleworth, a former city mayor, doubled down on arguments he made during a work session last week.
Cleworth said he doesn’t think the current pay discourages people from seeking office. He also said the mayor isn’t an employee of the city and that, as an elected official, the approach to compensation is different.
“I know people want to equate them with department heads, or what other people make. I do not do that,” he said. “It is an elected position. It pays this much. Would you like to run?”
Councilmember Valerie Therrien offered an amendment to lower the proposed salary from $136,000 to about $113,000. That amendment failed after a split 3-3 vote.
Normally, the city mayor breaks ties, but Mayor Mindy O’Neall couldn’t vote due to a conflict of interest.
After the failed amendment, the council then voted down the original ordinance, with Tidwell, the sponsor, among those voting no. But she said she wants to revive the idea in the future and hopes the council can work together to come up with something more “palatable.”
In a separate move, Cleworth pulled another measure from the consent agenda that proposed doubling the monthly $500 stipend paid to council members. The council amended that ordinance to cut the pay boost by half, and then approved sending the measure on to a public hearing and vote at their Feb. 9 meeting.