Raise Puts Rockville Council Among Highest Paid in Md.
Members Split On Recent Salary Increase

By Aruna Jain
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 26, 2006

Rockville's mayor and City Council members are now among the highest paid city officials in the state, after a more than 50 percent increase in their salaries took effect late last year.

The annual salary of a city council member jumped from $13,200 to $20,000. The mayor's compensation increased from $16,421 to $25,000.

The City Council is the second-highest paid in the state of Maryland after the Baltimore council, whose members earn $48,000 and council president makes $80,000. Rockville's mayor is tied with Salisbury for sixth-highest paid, behind the mayors of Baltimore, Frederick, Annapolis, Ocean City and Hagerstown, according to Maryland Municipal League statistics.

Salaries of Rockville's elected officials last increased in November 2003. The mayor's pay increased from $12,200 to $16,421; the council's from $9,550 to $13,200 each.

"We felt they were under-compensated," said Bridget Newton, chairman of the Rockville Compensation Commission, a five-person group appointed by the mayor and council that recommended the recent increase. "The council meetings are nonstop with the agenda; it's one thing after another. They go four or five hours on a Monday evening."

Newton said that although some people refer to the positions as part time, many officials work longer than 20 hours a week, often during the day. It's difficult to hold a full-time job and serve as a city official, she said.

Considering all that they do for the city of 57,100, Newton said, "I think the amounts are exceedingly fair."

Commission members also felt a pay increase would create an incentive for more people to run for office, Newton added.

The mayor and City Council approved the pay increase by a 3 to 2 vote last summer, with council member Susan R. Hoffmann and then council member John F. Hall Jr., opposing the increase. It took effect in November after the election.

Hoffmann believes holding public office is not about monetary compensation.

"This is a part-time job, and we are citizen legislators, and we do it for the good of our city," Hoffmann said. "If our reasons for being in office are not altruistic, then people shouldn't be in it, certainly [not] at this level. It's about doing good, not doing well."

Hoffmann disagreed with the argument that additional compensation can be an incentive for potential candidates. "It's not enough for someone to support themselves," Hoffmann said. "And certainly, we didn't see an increase in the number of candidates last year." One candidate challenged Mayor Larry Giammo and three challengers opposed three council members during last year's elections.

Hoffmann is the only council member who holds a full-time job in addition to serving.

Giammo, who works part time as a self-employed management consultant and who was reelected for his third two-year term, said elected officials face many demands. He said he averages 20 to 25 hours a week on city business.

"Some weeks in August I work five or seven hours. Some weeks in Annapolis, where I'm lobbying, I'll put in 60 hours," he said.

He wants to ensure that more people in Rockville have the opportunity to run for office, he said.

"We've actually had conversations with some very bright, capable people who would make very effective City Council members or mayors who said they literally cannot afford it," Giammo said.

Last year, Gaithersburg, which has a population of 58,091, also increased the salaries of its elected officials based on an advisory committee's recommendations. The mayor is paid $12,500 and council members earn $10,000.

"Obviously you don't do it for the money; you do it for many, many other reasons," said Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz.

Over the years, municipalities have slowly, but steadily, raised the salaries of their elected officials, said James Peck, a researcher with the Maryland Municipal League. "Rockville has frequently been a model for other municipalities, a very professional operation. I suspect strongly that they get their money's worth from both their elected and appointed officials," he said.