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SALEM -- The parks commission discussed updates to employee wages in its July meeting.
Following an executive session for the discussion of employee wages the commissioners voted unanimously to adjust the pay scale for the department's receptionist position, currently held by Diana Harshman, from the current rage of $11 to $14 per hour, to $12 to $16 per hour.
The increase will still need to receive approval from the city council as an update to the city's wage ordinance.
The commissioners initially discussed increasing Laborers Bobby Hillman and Kaden Blair's wages to $24.13 and $27.50, respectively, with Commission President John Panezott noting that the wage increases were necessary to retain personnel. However, Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey said that as Hillman and Blair are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 2701 the commissioners couldn't alter their pay as any modifications to their wage would represent a modification to the collective bargaining agreement between AFSCME and the city which was approved by the city council in their July 21 meeting.
"Your budget is set every year, and they negotiate off of the wages that are set in that budget when they go in [for negotiations] every contract year," said Dickey.
Parks Director Kelli Pastore said that she had spoken with AFSCME 2701 President Ryan Boyer and been told that the department could increase their base pay, and that the contract could be updated to reflect the change.
"We were told that we're allowed to raise their base pay because the union can't do it, and it would be an amendment to their contract," said Pastore.
Dickey said that they would need to discuss the proposal further with Boyer to ensure that it would not create an issue with the union's new contract. She also said that if they wanted to do so the commissioners could vote to give department approval for the proposed changes, but that it would still require ratification from the union and approval from the city council to make the necessary amendments to the wage ordinance.
"You have authority over anything with parks that is not affected by ordinances, and the wage ordinance is an ordinance of council. So, you have the ability to approve wages pending council approval," Dickey said.
The commissioners ultimately agreed to table the proposal for further review in either their next regular meeting or at a special meeting after they and Dickey clarified if the change was permissible under the union's contract or not. A discussion of updates to the wage differentials for department heads was also shelved.
However, Dickey suggested that when the commissioners do make any changes, the differential could be updated in the ordinance as minimum percentage higher than the salary of the highest paid employee they supervise rather than a specified rate.
Dickey said that similar language had been implemented for supervisory positions in other departments, and that doing so reduces the number of updates required to the wage ordinance each year.
The parks commission will meet next at 8 a.m. on Aug. 26.