Port Jeff. mayor, trustees seek raises

Margot Garant, the mayor of Port Jefferson, and the village's four trustees want raises.

Who approves those raises? The mayor and the trustees -- thanks to the village's code.

The salaries of the Port Jefferson leadership are set in that code, and only the mayor and trustees can vote to amend the code. The salary levels were set in 1998 at $10,000 for the mayor, and $7,000 for the trustees. All positions are part-time.

Garant, who was first elected in 2009, is seeking a $15,000 raise, and the trustee salary would rise by $5,500 -- the first attempt to increase the pay for either position. At a public hearing Monday in Village Hall, Garant said she dedicates enormous time to running Port Jefferson.

"I am taking hours and hours of professional time to fight for you people," said Garant, who practices real estate and corporation law at her own firm.

Resident Arnold Lustig said that with the bad economy and pending loss of some Long Island Power Authority taxes, "this is just not the time for you to seek a raise."

Other residents questioned the propriety of the board approving its own raises.

"It's difficult for me to accept people voting themselves an increase while they're sitting in office," said Bill Griffith.

Between dealing with LIPA's fight to write down the value of its power plant in Port Jefferson, managing the interstate ferry to Connecticut, and conducting general village business, Garant said running Port Jefferson is complicated and a full-time job.

She reminded residents at the hearing that she ran unopposed in the last election. "No one wanted to run for mayor in June," Garant said.

The increased salary would help draw more candidates to public service, she said.

Two of the trustees, Jim Burke and Lee Rosner, said they would forgo the trustee raise but urged the public to support Garant's raise.

Former deputy clerk Linda Howell spoke at the hearing about her conflicted feelings. After eight years working for the village, she was laid off in April for budgetary reasons.

"My life is devastated. I still don't have a job," she said. Still, she said to the board, "you all work hard. I used to say you have to have a screw loose to do this job."

After the hearing, Garant said she would likely recommend the board defer the raises until the next fiscal year. The board is expected to take action on the salary proposal at its next meeting Sept. 12.