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Paige advocates for evening council meetings

December 28th, 2012, 10:23 am · 4 Comments · posted by Daniel Chacon

Sean Paige/Photo by Daniel J. Chacón

Don’t expect former City Councilman Sean Paige to appear in any campaign ads supporting a proposed ballot measure that would increase the pay of a future City Council.

“I have a one word rebuttal to those who believe better pay will result in better leadership: Congress,” Paige commented on a story on gazette.com about the proposed salary increase.

“Congress isn’t any less of a circus because each of the clowns now makes $174,000 per year, plus a king’s benefits and pension package,” he said.

Paige, former editorial page editor of The Gazette and currently deputy director of the Colorado chapter of Americans for Prosperity, says he has a “simpler” and “more affordable” solution to increase the pool of council candidates.

“The easiest way to increase the number and quality of people able to serve on City Council/Utilities Board — if that is the primary goal here — is to move meeting times from weekday afternoons, when most people are working, to evening hours, which would permit more people not only to serve but to attend,” he said.

Paige left a lengthy comment backing the idea of moving council meetings to the evening.

Here is the rest of his comment:

I pushed for this while on council but the idea was shot down, for reasons that were either silly, self-serving or outdated. Daytime meetings are a relic of the city manager system, in my opinion, when what was convenient for city employees was more important than what was convenient for the public at large. That model is gone now so a re-thinking is in order.

This simple change would cost nothing but greatly expand leadership opportunities for people who work 9 to 5. If we did it now, or very soon, the pool of people interested in running for council in April would grow considerably. Many cities function quite well with councils that meet in the evening. Marathon sessions that stretch until midnight could be avoided simply by running meetings with more efficiency.

Meetings would be attended not just by the narrowly-interested, who happen to have an item of special concern on the docket that day, but by the general public, who may be prevented from taking part now by day jobs. This new arrangement might be less convenient for the city or utility staff who are required to attend, and it might increase the city’s coffee bill by a couple bucks each month, but those are small drawbacks as compared to the obvious advantages.

Jumping directly to paying council members $45,000 per year, without first trying this much simpler and more affordable way to broaden the leadership pool, is a leap too far, in my opinion, which will flop at the ballot box. I also agree with those who say we still have some work to do, sorting out roles and responsibilities, particularly pertaining to utilities business, before we can determine a more equitable pay rate for councilors. More responsibility might argue for more pay, but I don’t see that responsibilities have grown any — and they may even be diminished somewhat under the new structure.

Finally, I would be more supportive of paying council members more if there were fewer of them — 5 instead of 9, for instance. I’ve never understood why a city this size needs a 9-member council, when 5 would probably do just fine. That’s my 2 cents worth, off the cuff. I reserve the right to add another dime or quarter as the debate unfolds.

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Zen says:

December 28, 2012 at 10:48 am

The Springs is not a one horse town anymore. It’s the 2nd largest city by population and largest by area in Colorado, and the 41st largest city in the United States. Being a responsible and plugged in councilmember requires more than a handful of meetings a month, whether day or night. It’s a full time job and should offer full time pay. As is, the only people who tend to apply are people who either don’t have to work, or people who have the flexibility of working for themselves, or those who see great financial incentive in serving on council (read: developers).

TreeOfThree says:

December 28, 2012 at 7:43 pm

Daniel, enough with the Paige quotes already. He doesn’t work at the Gazette anymore. Let it go. He has no influence anymore. You have new owners and new leadership. Move on.

Rick says:

December 31, 2012 at 8:41 am

Let’s see…..Move the meetings to nighttime so the council members can work a full day and then work at night. Even better because city staff works days they would also have to work nights to attend the council meetings after working their normal work day. Who is going to pay for the overtime or who is going to put up with city staff reduced staffing of city staff if we change staff hours. All this so citizens can attend council meetings? What make you think many would attend in the first place? The Mayor doesn’t even attend them. He doesn’t even attend Utilities Board meetings and he then complains about them. Sean go away. You had you 15 minutes

Carla Hartsell says:

December 31, 2012 at 10:58 am

Been there, done that. The usual community members showed up for their items. Staff outnumbered attendees. Meetings would last the same length as the day meetings. Council gave it up after several months.

Paige advocates for evening council meetings

December 28th, 2012, 10:23 am · 4 Comments · posted by Daniel Chacon

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