News

By Dan Moffett

    After months of discussion, South Palm Beach Town Council members moved closer to giving themselves pay raises that would start next year.
    The council, on a 3-1 vote at its Nov. 15 meeting, approved a proposal to have Town Attorney Brad Biggs draft an ordinance that could phase in $150 monthly raises for council members — increasing their pay to $400 per month — and $250 for the mayor’s position, doubling the monthly salary to $500 — beginning after the March election.
    Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan said the demands on the mayor’s time justify raising the compensation for the job.
    “I cannot explain to you all this woman does,” Jordan said of Mayor Bonnie Fischer. “The mayor is worth way more than what she’s paid.”
    Councilman Robert Gottlieb said council members voluntarily took a $50 monthly pay cut eight years ago when the Great Recession put South Palm Beach in a financial bind, so it makes sense to give raises now that the town is in a stronger financial position.
    “The council took a cut when we were being pinched,” Gottlieb said. “We never restored that. The council never asked for it to be put back where it was.”
    Under the proposal, the raises would begin after the election with the winners of the three seats up for a vote — those held by Fischer and Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello, and the one left open by the death of Woody Gorbach in October.
    At the meeting, the council unanimously approved allowing Elvadianne Culbertson to serve out the remainder of Gorbach’s term.
    Gottlieb and Jordan would not be eligible for an increase until they come up for reelection in March 2018. Flagello said he voted against the change because he opposed the timing of giving raises now instead of budgeting them into the next fiscal year. The council is expected to vote on the new ordinance at the Dec. 20 town meeting.
    In other business:
    • Council members didn’t hesitate in accepting Culbertson’s application for the open seat, saying she is ideally suited to serve.
    “She certainly has her finger on the pulse of the town and knows the community,” Flagello said.
    Culbertson, who has lived in South Palm Beach for some 15 years, is the editor of the town’s newsletter and has worked on the zoning board and Community Affairs Advisory Board. Jordan said Culbertson has attended hundreds of meetings and “has done so much for our town.”
    The new council member is scheduled to be sworn into office at the December meeting.
    • Two representatives of the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association told the council that negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement are foundering over arbitration rights and pay.
    Union negotiator Vinnie Gray said the town should consider eliminating its department and contracting with the sheriff’s office “so officers can earn a living wage.”
    Union attorney Angela Barbosa said, “Every single police officer would receive a raise under the sheriff’s office.”
    Town officials say they remain hopeful a new three-year agreement can be reached before the current contract expires in January.
    • In November, South Palm Beach Police Commander Robert Rizzotto graduated from a three-week leadership program sponsored by the Florida Criminal Justice Executive Institute in Tallahassee. Rizzotto was one of 20 law enforcement officials from around the state who completed classes on risk management, succession planning, strategic change and policing trends.