HIGHTSTOWN: Patten recommends 4-day work week

That and no council pay don’t go over

By Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
   HIGHTSTOWN — Mayor Bob Patten was rebuffed by the members of the Borough Council when he challenged them to decline their salaries to help close a $510,000 borough shortfall.
   The mayor made his challenge as he distributed a list of considerations for budget reductions at the council’s March 5 budget meeting. Other suggestions included cutting the salaries of nonunion employees by 20 percent by instituting a four-day work week, negotiating with unions to share insurance costs and reducing some trash services.
   The council members seemed unsure of whether it is feasible to reduce the work week to four days.
   ”There is a physical manpower issue,” Councilman Dave Schneider said. “I don’t know if the workforce can do everything they need to do in less time.”
   Mr. Schneider also said reducing salaries would likely lead to a loss of staff for the borough.
   Council President Walter Sikorski referred to the idea as “draconian.”
   Mayor Patten had made similar challenges about the council members’ salaries for several years before declining the remainder of his own annual salary in March 2008. He has declined his salary for 2009 as well, according to Borough Administrator Candace Gallagher.
   Salaries are set at $4,800 for the mayor and $3,600 for each council member, according to Ms. Gallagher.
   ”If asking borough employees to increase co-payments, decrease working hours and freezing the nonunion worker’s salary increases, do the same for yourselves. Namely, forgo your salaries, any benefits and any compensation for out-of-pocket expenses,” Mayor Patten said at the March 5 meeting. “Not only will it generate more than a $20,000 reduction in the budget; it will send a message that you are part of the solution and not part of the problem.”
   He also noted that Board of Education members are not compensated.
   Councilwoman Isabel McGinty dismissed the idea, arguing that it sent the wrong message.
   ”It sends the message that we are volunteers. That it’s OK to miss a meeting because we are just giving our time,” she said. “I, for one, am against it.”
   Mr. Sikorski also spoke out against the idea.
   ”There should be some compensation,” said Mr. Sikorski. “Otherwise it is demeaning to the position.”
   He also argued that the salary is used by many council people for campaigning, because they do not get many donations and do not accept donations from people who do business with the borough.
   Mr. Sikorski said he works 35 hours a week for the borough, roughly the same as he did in his career as a teacher before he retired. He added that the council has not increased their own salaries.
   ”We’ve been held stagnate as well,” he said.
   Mr. Schneider said setting an expectation that salaries should be declined might prevent capable people from running for the council in the future.
   Councilman Jeff Bond agreed, and said it should be a personal choice for council members. He also added that compensation is low.
   ”We are talking about a situation where we are making about $1.75 an hour,” Mr. Bond said.
   Among the mayors other ideas were:
   • eliminating the pickup of grass clippings, bulk items and chipping of tree limbs and shrub debris;
   • eliminating all taxpayer funding for boards, committees and commissions; and
   • holding only one action meeting a month of the Borough Council, with the other meeting being a work session that would not require the attorney or engineer to be present.
   The council did seem to embrace the idea of reducing action meetings to once a week, however no official action was taken.