Port Jefferson OKs mayor's raise

The trustees of Port Jefferson voted to raise the village mayor’s salary from $10,000 to $19,500 last night, a more modest increase than the originally proposed $15,000 raise.

Mayor Margot Garant abstained from the vote, which was unanimous in favor of the raise, save for one absent trustee, Jim Burke. The salary hike is retroactive to July 1.

A similar proposal to raise the trustees’ salaries from $7,000 to $12,500 was tabled until the next trustee meeting on Oct. 17 because Burke was absent last night.

Before the vote, some residents attending the public portion of the trustee meeting spoke about their misgivings over the amount and timing of the proposed raises.

“I’m perfectly happy with Garant as mayor. This is just not the time for a raise,” resident Theresa Eberling said.

The salaries of the Port Jefferson mayor and trustees are set in the village code. Only the trustees and the mayor can amend the code so they vote on whether they should raise their own salaries. All the positions are part-time.

Since the raise was proposed in August, Garant has defended it against public outcry as a needed incentive to attract more people to serve in local government. She has pointed out she ran unopposed this summer for her second term as mayor.

Eberling said the salaries shouldn’t be the reason for candidates to run for office. “Money shouldn’t be the issue to attract the most attractive, dedicated trustees,” she said.

In discussions before the vote, Garant said she now felt it was politically a “no-win situation” for her.

Garant pointed out the village ended the last fiscal year with a $1.1-million surplus because of the government’s financial leadership.

“We . . . scrubbed that budget two years in a row,” she said. “The next person should want to do that. The salary should be commensurate with the work that it takes.”

The raise can still be challenged. The village clerk has 10 days to publish notice of the code change in The Port Times Record. Then the public has 30 days to submit a petition with the signatures of 20 percent of the village’s registered voters. A successful petition would bring the raise to a permissive referendum, a villagewide election on whether the raise will be approved.