I wrote this in response to a question on the Watertown Tab Blog asking if the Watertown Town Council’s pay should be increased by $2500. The Watertown Tab post/discussion can be viewed here: http://blogs.townonline.com/watertown/?p=3282#comment-72791
I am for the pay hike for the following reasons:
1. It has the potential to attract more people to run for town council. As I understand it, it is costing more and more to run a campaign for town council and many of those expenses I believe are being paid by the councilor out of pocket. As councilor John Lawn said “Absolutely. It’s costing us money to do this job.” This is why I think it would behoove the council to make the change before the next election in order to attract the highest quality and quantity of candidates. Right now what incentive is there for a talented person who does not make a lot in there day job to run for office when it may hurt their financial situation.
2.  Many athletes are mocked when they say they don’t care about the extra money, they just want to be respected. While it is not the ideal, salary is one of the ways we show respect for a position in our society. If we pay our town councilors a lot less then other communities it shows that as a town we value what they do less. Remember, while we may not always be happy with a particular town councilor or the council as a whole, the people who govern our town council deserves our respect and should be paid accordingly.
3.  The amount of the increase won’t have a substantial effect on the Town’s budget.