With Mayor James J. Fiorentini serving his 10th and seemingly last term as Haverhill’s leader, the City Council Tuesday considered the question of how much money should be paid to the next officeholder.
Councilor Catherine Rogers introduced the question during a discussion of an ordinance regarding salaries for administrative and professional positions. Rogers asserted in order to attract a quality candidate, the city must offer a competitive salary.
“There’s 10 other people that get more money than him and he is the number one person making decisions for everything,” she noted.
Rogers told her colleagues the mayor’s chief of staff makes almost the same amount as he does.
The mayor received a $20,000 bump in his annual salary on Jan. 1, 2018 and now receives $110,000 per year. At that same time, city councilors received a salary increase from $12,884 to $15,000 per year.
Council President Timothy J. Jordan agreed the figure is probably a little low for someone who is, in essence, the CEO of a city with a $220 million annual budget.
Rogers made a motion to send a letter to the mayor asking him to create a committee to look at how much other like-sized cities are paying their mayors and modified following a suggestion by Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan that the committee make similar comparisons for City Council and School Committee members.
The motion was approved by a vote of 7-1 with Councilor Joseph J. Bevilacqua abstaining and Councilor Shaun Toohey absent.