City Council Votes Down 20 Percent Pay Raise for City Employees

By Gordon Hopkins After an occasionally heated debate during a meeting on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, the Fairbury City Council voted five to three against a salary increase of up to 20 percent for city employees. That debate continues, both on and off social media.There was some confusion about what exactly was being proposed. The item on the council's published agenda read, “Consider recommendation from the Personnel Committee regarding IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) Memorandum of Understanding-wage amendments.”According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), city employees would have received a 20 percent increase included the Deputy City Clerk, Line Foreman, Lineman First Class, Lineman Second Class and Lineman Third Class/Groundperson. All remaining bargaining unit positions would have received a 13 percent increase.The MOU does not include non-union employees.For those city council members that voted no, some indicated they were not opposed to a raise but were opposed to the amount. Council President Kelly Davis said, “I'm not against giving raises. I never have been against giving raises, but a 20 percent is ludicrous. I think we need to back up. Look at it. I wouldn't be opposed to five percent a year for four years.”Davis added, “I've talked to quite a few business owners and quite a few citizens, and there's not one in an agreement with the 20 percent rate, and they're the ones that pay the wages.”“I have a hard time with 20 percent. I just, I really do,” said City Councilperson Phil Rogge. “I can take a smaller percent.”“This is the problem, guys,” said City Councilperson Brad Kuzelka. “If we price ourselves to the point, I mean, this is what happened to the police department. We got a big raise, and then we can't afford and then you're gone. So we're in the same boat. If we pay them more, we can't afford them it, and they're gone; or we don't pay them enough, and then we don't have anybody working, they're gone. So, there's a fine line we have to ride.”Fairbury Mayor Spencer Brown pushed back, believing Fairbury must compete not just with second class cities comparable to Fairbury but with much larger cities, like Beatrice and Lincoln.“You know why it's 20 percent? Do you know how we came up with these numbers?” Brown asked. “So, we have real life numbers that people are getting, getting offers for, okay, they're leaving for. In order to compete, we could at least be in that wheelhouse. At 20 percent, we're not even beating their wages. We're just trying to get close enough where you can say, 'Hey, stay with us,' right? ” Personnel CommitteeWhile the agenda read, “Consider recommendation from the Personnel Committee,” City Councilperson Doug Brown, who is also chair of the committee, noted this was incorrect. He confirmed the committee had discussed the matter in closed session but did not vote on the matter and did not make a recommendation.Four members of the city council also make up the Personnel Committee. Two of those, Doug Brown and Tim Polson, voted against the wage increase. The other two, Brian Schmidt and John Ebke, voted for the increase. Union ContractCurrently, union employees receive a three percent annual salary increase. This MOU was outside of that raise. The mayor pointed out, “The other thing that you need to consider is, they're giving up their three percent wage increase, come next contract negotiation. So that 20 percent that you're saying is actually 17 percent, the 13 percent for the rest of the crowd is actually 10 percent. Now, you can't say a 10 percent raise is out of line with inflation and everything else.”Kuzelka addressed the union members in the room, “I'm really sorry, guys. This came about the wrong way. This is not the way this should happen. We have a contract, and we negotiate this stuff, and it shouldn't happen like this. So, I apologize.”Mayor Brown said, “I don't apologize. I think it should have happened this way. You know, my opinion is, the people of Fairbury, they expect a level of service. I think if we were to wait and sit on our hands until contract negotiation, where that where they get three percent and we're not going to have anybody left.”The current contract is dated October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2025. Why Employees LeaveSupporters believe the increase is needed to stem the tide of employees leaving. City council member Ebke said, “Well, in the city specifically, we have lost 21 people in the last two years. Seven of those are from the line department. That's the equivalent of the entire department. You know, we have people leaving, it's not for a dollar or two. Its for a significant amount of money.”Others, however, suggested that the problem of employees leaving was not about pay but other issues, which the pay increase would not solve. Davis said, “You know, I've talked to quite a few of the people that quit here the last five, six years, and not one of them ever said it was because of money. Not one of them that I talked to. It was the work environment and management.” Mayor Takes Debate to Social MediaMayor Brown turned to social media to vent his frustration and chastise those who voted against the measure. On his “From the Mayor” Facebook page, Brown posted, “Tonight, 5 of your representatives on city council decided against an amended union agreement giving much needed wage adjustments to the employees that keep our city running.“These employees keep your water safe.“These employees keep the waste away.“These employees keep your parks beautiful.“These employees plow snow in the middle of the night.“These employees work in the middle of a storm to keep your lights on.“These people work for you and live in your community.“It WAS time to bring our wages up, to pay our skilled, dedicated employees what they are worth. To KEEP the people who make our lives comfortable, and not let them be poached by another employer. To keep us free from being forced into a 3rd party outside contract.“Kelly Davis, Doug Brown, Brad Kuzelka, Phil Rogge, and Tim Polson didnt (sic) think they deserved this raise and voted against it.“The City of Fairbury has an amazing dedicated staff.“I appreciate the high level of service you provide and I will always be your advocate.”The mayor has received criticism on Facebook for bringing the debate to Facebook.What Happens Next?“Hope you guys realize we're going to have a lot of work to do,” Council member Brian Schmidt said after the vote.When asked by FJN if he would introduce a proposal for a lower raise, Mayor Brown said, “No.”When asked what he planned to do next, Brown noted, “We have a lot of things going on at the city so we will press on with business as usual.” More details will be available in next Wednesday’s FJN.Due to public interest in this matter, FJN has made available the complete recording of the city council meeting. The debate on wages begins at the 20 minute mark.

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