10-10-16 Personnel and Finance - Laserfiche WebLink

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position in the City of South Bend. The average City director makes approximately $10,000 more than that of the Clerk's position, and the average department head makes approximately $30,000 more than that of the Clerk. This request to increase the salary level of the City Clerk is to place it in a competitive range that respects the overall responsibility of the position. I cannot and will not allow personal attacks to compromise my view of this office. My vision is that we cannot and will not retreat from searching for more innovative advancements to serve the City Council, the Mayor's office, and more importantly, the members of the public. I also must consider the future of this position. No one knows what the future holds, but when the time comes, and I leaves this position, it is my fundamental job to make recommendations that will encourage highly qualified individuals to seek this public office. I further intention to make sure that the innovative advances that our office has made, and continue to make, move forward. I am also proud of the highly talented staff in this office and their dedication to public service. I must be clear that this proposed increase is about the position, not the person. It is an executive level job that has been historically underfunded, and has been treated as an employee position rather than an elected office. I thanked the Council for your time and consideration, and I ask for your favorable vote. Committee Chair White stated that an email was received from Derek Dieter that he would like to be read into the record at tonight's meeting during the public hearing. Councilmember Davis stated just for clarification, the Mayor doesn't have the highest rank. It's the Mayor, Clerk, Council, we're all equal when it comes down to it. Sometimes people think that, and even how it was campaigned with the Mayor and the Clerk, because when you ran together it was like you were one (1) and you were all over us. People say how is your boss doing? No, I tell them that my boss is the people of the 61h district. City Clerk Fowler stated that if you look at the chart, they are all equal. Councilmember Davis stated the chart, I'm not worried about the chart. The chart, its equal powers of the government. I understood this from back in government school, and so, the executive branch, the legislative branch, and you have because of the municipal group, really the city council is kind of a craft out of the state branch, because we really only have township and states, so the state crafted out the municipal, so out of the municipal you have the legislative, and you all are there to assist the two (2). So that's how it's set up. It is not set up in the sense that you are over, higher, it's set up like that. That needs to be clarified because it is not set up as one of the other things. That is why historically, we have looked at this thing and it has been that way, because it is two (2) branches of government. You have federal they have three (3) branches of government, state has three (3) branches of government, and municipal has two (2) branches of government with the Clerk to assist. In a sense it is a branch of the government but it is not technically speaking that when you look at the federal and state. That is why the Clerk's role has been considered more of the support role to the Mayor and to the Council.