By John Pacenti
Ocean Ridge commissioners and Town Manager Lynne Ladner wrestled over her proposed salary increases for staff, with the manager saying the employees had been left behind while raises were given to police officers over the last two years.
“I don’t believe that it is equitable to make such substantial increases to the base salaries of individuals in the Police Department when you do not consider equitable base salary increases for all other employees,” Ladner said at the commission’s Aug. 5 budget workshop.
Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy pushed back on new increases, saying, “I’m not feeling like everyone’s on the same page in terms of looking out for the taxpayer’s best interest.”
In the end, commissioners approved a 3% cost-of-living raise and an average 3% merit increase based on performance for 12 non-police administrators and staff. This past year they received one-time bonuses not added to their base salaries.
The town is just starting negotiations with the police union regarding any salary increase for the town’s 16 police officers.
The pay increases could still be tweaked as the $10.4 million proposed budget is finalized this month.
The discussion of the salary increase proposal came after a consultant presented to commissioners a compensation and classification study of non-police employees. Ocean Ridge taxpayers paid $14,000 for the report, which found that the town salaries were in the “realm of market competitiveness.”
Yet, Brian Wolfe of Evergreen Solutions said some employees resented having to do tasks outside their job descriptions and there was a split among staff.
“There is some tension, or at least an inference of tension, between two primary groups of employees in the town: the Police Department and everybody else,” Wolfe said.
Ladner told commissioners in a memo she aimed to bring administrative staff salaries back to the “midpoint.”
She proposed significant raises to seven positions:
• Police chief ($130,095 to $140,000, 7.6% increase)
• Public works supervisor ($90,956 to $99,286, 9.2% increase)
• Town clerk ($90,956 to $99,286, 9.2% increase)
• Deputy town clerk ($55,125 to $61,988, 12.4% increase)
• Building clerk ($55,125 to $61,988, 12.4% increase)
• Dispatch manager ($102,000 to $108,500, 6.4% increase)
• Senior police dispatcher $74,425 to $80,000, 7.5% increase).
The increases would have added more than $52,000 to the proposed annual budget — or .5%.
Ladner might as well have proposed building a super-collider in town as the commission vigorously opposed her proposal.
“This comes back to you,” Cassidy told Ladner. “You’re not feeling that it’s equitable, and then that is what you are sharing with staff. And we are looking at this report that we spent a considerable amount of money on, saying that we are equitable with the market.”
Ladner told Cassidy to put herself in the shoes of staff who have been passed over for significant raises. “What is the motivation to put in evenings and weekends when employees do not feel valued? He (Wolfe) quite clearly told you that the employees feel that there is a discrepancy.”
In an unusual twist, Mayor Geoff Pugh turned to Clerk Kelly Avery and asked her if she works nights and weekends.
“I used to,” Avery responded. “Not since the last budget. My job is getting done but at a slower pace.”
Again, Cassidy lit into Ladner.
“It comes down to morale, too,” she said. “You were very upset last year because you didn’t feel it was equitable, and now we’re going right back to where we were. And if that’s the message that all staff is getting, then of course people don’t want to work any extra.”
Base salaries for police officers have increased by $10,000 since 2023, Ladner said.
The mayor said it was unfair to compare raises between police and other staff. “Well, see, that’s the problem,” Pugh said. “There’s a fundamental difference. One employee carries a gun and puts his life on the line, the other does not.”
Commissioner Steve Coz — with the police chief and clerk bookending the dais — then drove the discussion on providing staff with a 3% COLA and a 3% merit raise. The commissioners quickly came to a consensus — though Cassidy said it was important if necessary to revisit the raises as the budget process plays on.
Ladner didn’t go away completely defeated.
She turned to getting approval for an increase of pay ranges for some positions so current staff wouldn’t top out in the town’s salary structure and not even receive COLA or merit raises.
The commission approved her proposal for new salary ranges, which will allow her to bump up Police Chief Scott McClure’s salary to $140,000 annually — a figure that the commissioners had just rejected.
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