Beverly Franklin notes she doesn’t need to be paid for her service on the Iola City Council.
But if Iola’s elected representatives were given some compensation, it might attract more candidates willing to serve, she said.
Franklin’s proposal for a monthly stipend for the mayor and city council members was discussed at Monday’s meeting before Council members agreed more public input was needed.
They encouraged residents to share their points of view prior to the Council’s June 13 meeting.
The council has worked without pay since the eight-member governing body was installed in 2011, replacing the smaller three-person city commission. When the city commission was in place, commissioners received an average of $300 a month.
City Administrator Carl Slaugh showed the Council a survey of more than 50 communities across the state. All but nine offer a monthly stipend for its elected officials.
Paying council members $300 and the mayor $400 a month — the same rate paid to former commissioners — would cost the city $33,600 annually.
“The people I’ve heard from were shocked we didn’t get paid,” Councilman Austin Sigg said.
Conversely, Councilman Jon Wells said he’d rather see money used for council compensation used elsewhere in the city’s budget.
“I’d rather see the money go back into the community,” he said.
“This feels unusual having the people benefiting from this make the decision,” Councilman Aaron Franklin noted.
“This is a hard conversation to have,” Mayor Joel Wicoff agreed. “But Beverly had a good point. There are times we struggle to get more people to file. … Sometimes, it’s hard to get people to want to do this. No one is going to get rich being a city council member. We’re all doing this to try to help our community.”
COUNCIL members agreed a house at 1218 N. Buckeye St. that was gutted by a fire should be demolished immediately.
Iolan Charles Burton died in the fire, and his relatives said they were unable to pay for its demolition.
The house’s shell is a health hazard, neighbor Milo Kellerman said. “You need to drive by and smell it,” he said. “I can’t go outside, even to barbecue or sit down in a lawn chair without that stinking smoke smell.”
Council members directed Slaugh to seek bids, and sign a contract with the winning bid immediately so the structure can be razed in short order.
