SCOTT CITY COUNCIL HIKES PAY; RAISES APPLY TO NEW COUNCILMEN

SCOTT CITY -- City council members Tuesday night were divided over an amended ordinance that will give future council members a pay raise.

Two weeks ago council members voted themselves an immediate pay raise for attendance at council meetings. The ordinance was found to violate the Missouri Constitution, and an amended version was approved at the council's regular meeting.

The new ordinance will guarantee newly-elected and re-elected council members a raise when they take office. The ordinance boosts compensation from $15 to $30 per council meeting. Council members will also be paid $10 for every committee meeting they attend.

The mayor's yearly pay of $1,300 was doubled to $2,600 with the mayor also receiving $30 per council meeting.

The raises will go into effect after the April election for new and re-elected council members. The mayor's raise will not go into effect until 2000, when that election is scheduled.

The vote on the amended ordinance was more divided than the vote on the original version. The original ordinance passed with only Councilman Rodney Holloway voting against it.

This time Holloway and Councilwoman Cindy Uhrhan cast dissenting votes, but for completely different reasons.

"Nobody's got the right to vote themselves a raise," Holloway said. "If they think they need one, let the people vote on it."

Uhrhan said she was not opposed to the raise; she opposes the waiting period. "I think the first (ordinance) should have done it and that should have been fine," she said. "If they think $30 per council meeting is going to break the city -- let them come out the next election."

Uhrhan said she doesn't think people realize how much the council members go through. She said there is gas money, long-distance phone charges and personal time. "I took a whole half-day off of work to walk with the Corps of Engineers down these ditches," she said.

Councilwoman Marsha Zimmerman cast a tentative vote in favor of the amended ordinance. She said she opposes paying council members for committee meetings and would rather see a set payment per council meeting.

Zimmerman said she favors a system like Chaffee's that pays its members $50 per council meeting. She said she will ask for a change in the ordinance.