10-10-16 Personnel and Finance - Laserfiche WebLink

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increase at this time in order to bring it into some sort of parity, and it was interesting that in 1984 the council president was looking to do that, so somewhere along the way it was forgotten, so I think that historically we have some information about that. Again, this isn't a personal issue, but I think it is something to be talked about in terms of our Mayor's diversity and inclusion initiative. We also have to take a look at outside of everything else what is happening in terms of pay equity. I don't think that this particular issue is necessarily that, but I want it to be said that the way in which this particular position has been presented in the media, I think that is where the gender equity issue comes in. I just want to call attention to that, that that is my opinion. Possibly, outside of all other issues, if this particular person who holds the position right now were a white male, I'm not sure it would have been front page news. $13,000 is just a drop in the bucket compared to looking at the whole budget, and what is happening. So I think that taken all together, I would ask that Councilmembers think about not just the structural issues, looking at the position and if we need to bring it into some sort of equity with other departments and other clerks around, but also consider how this might fit in with our vision of being a city government that does pay attention to gender, race, disability, and all those different factors in terms of who is working in our government at all levels, not just the higher levels of pay, but again, also the lower tiers and the hourly workers. Where are people being placed? Let's pay attention to those demographics and allow that to be a part of our conversation in terms of making sure that we are conducting ourselves in a way that matches our values. So I'll be supporting this increase tonight, and I hope that other councilmembers will as well. Committeemember John Voorde stated that as everyone knows, he served as City Clerk for a dozen years, and he was on the City Council in 1984 when they made the step up for the City Clerk at the time. It could be argued that it shouldn't even be an elected position, because it is an administrative position, not a policy position. That would require a change in state law, and I lobbied for that through my organization. There are only eight (8) or nine (9) city clerks in the State of Indiana that do not have courts to administer. That would be a significant addition to a workload if there was a city court, but we don't have one anymore. The County Clerk's workload is measurably more. While we can't put blinders on to the world around us, this is not a gender or racial issue. If I had asked for a $14,000 increase during any one (1) of the twelve (12) years I was in there, I bet it would have been a headline. You bet I would have liked to have made more money. I think you can argue a case that the job has taken on more duties and responsibilities and expanded hours over the years. This particular position has had hours over and above the norm in these past nine (9) months, because of choices that were made. We've got a whole new staff, and I applaud her for the people she's brought in, because by everything that I see, it's an upgrade in skill level and potential to take on more duties than the one (1) that I left. Compared to other city employees, city clerk staff people are pretty well compensated for what they do, so I was always proud of being able to get them more money. The City Clerk's job itself, because it's not policy, I did not think that it warranted for me, I could hang out credentials like anyone else. There is a League of Municipal Clerk Treasurers in the State of Indiana that 11