The pay raise for Clarksdale’s Mayor, Board of Commissioners and all city employees will stand.
On a 3-2 vote along racial lines, the Board of Mayor and Commissioners decided not to amend or roll back a massive pay raise they voted for in executive session on June 14, less than one week after they were re-elected on June 8.
The motion to amend the pay raise vote was made by Ward 2 Commissioner Ken Murphey and seconded by Ward 1 Commissioner Bo Plunk. Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner and Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals voted against the amendment prompting Mayor Chuck Espy to cast the deciding vote.
A petition of more than 600 names was presented by former Mayor John Mayo prior to the vote. Mayo said the raises for city leaders and employees will total $416,400 annually and is an undue tax burden on a community already seeing a population decline, falling property values and declining retail businesses that provide sales taxes to the city.
The meeting was racially charged with allegations of defeated economic development projects, past raises by White mayors not being contested and polling numbers alleging Whites were out to defeat Mayor Chuck Espy.
The Mayor and Board of Commissioners voted to give themselves annual raises of $36,000 and $20,000 respectively.
The annual compensation for Clarksdale's Mayor will go from $86,421 to $122,421.92. The annual compensation for a Commissioner will go from $26,650 to $46,650. Both Mayor and Commissioners also have expense accounts.
The June 14 vote prompted outcry from a community that feels the money could be better spent on law enforcement, street repairs and infrastructure and concerns about the long term tax burden after this board is gone.
Monday’s meeting saw more than 89 people pack the board room at city hall with Mayo speaking against the raises and Kerry Alexander and Mary Frances Dear-Moton speaking for it.
Comparisons to other area salaries and how many of the city’s projects were thwarted by people in the community were also raised by elected officials at Monday’s meeting.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A complete story of Monday's board meeting will be published in Wednesday’s Clarksdale Press Register.
