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By Carol Arnett

The Florissant City Council meeting last week featured lively debate at times, over the Mayor’s salary, a lawsuit facing the city, and perhaps surprisingly, human signs.

Councilwoman Karen McKay sponsored a bill that would reduce the mayor’s salary after the April election. McKay said she was motivated to suggest the change from over $130,000 to $90,000 because of the election year. She noted that while current mayor Robert Lowery worked his way through the ranks of the police department and was police chief before being mayor, none of the candidates running in April have the experience he had entering office.

“I find it hard to believe that we’re going to give the new mayor the same as the current mayor, who has worked his way through the ranks,” she said. McKay also noted that compared to other cities, her proposed salary is quite generous. “Ninety thousand is not chump change,” she said. “We also compensate with insurance, a pension plan, car and expense account.”

Councilman Mark Schmidt disagreed with McKay. “Are you expecting the new mayor to do less work?” he asked. “This salary is actually very low. If there’s any change, we should be raising it, not lowering it.”

“The salary of mayor seems to be excessive to some,” Councilman John Grib said. “I don’t think it’s excessive. If you compare it to other mayors and city administrators, it turns out the mayor of Florissant is not paid in excess compared to others.” The bill failed.

Political Sign Law Amended

The council also discussed a bill that would change the city’s regulations regarding political signs. This bill was offered in response to a lawsuit facing the city, filed by Councilman Andrew Podleski’s wife and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  The city regulations currently stated that signs could only go up within thirty days of an election. The new bill eliminates that provision, although several council members said they would continue to abide by the thirty day limit.

“We were advised by the city attorney that we pass this bill,” Schmidt said.

City Attorney John Hessel said that he hoped the bill would cause the lawsuit to be dropped, but he could not guarantee it, as that would be up to the people filing the suit. He asked Podleski if the provisions in the new bill would satisfy his wife and the ACLU.

Podleski responded that he was not a party to the suit, and was not sure what would happen if the bill passed. The bill passed.

Human Signs Issue

The council also took up a bill that would regulate human signs. These include the people who dress up and stand on sidewalks to drum up business, as well as those that carry signs.

“This is part of what makes us a community,” Councilman Tom Schneider said. “We’re taking jobs away from the signs, and from others at the business. I think it’s almost immoral.”

“We’re not denying them or prohibiting them,” McKay said. “We’re keeping them away from the street to keep them safe.

“The bill is to regulate them,” Councilman Tim Lee said. “It regulates the size of the signs and where they can stand.”

“But the bill says $50 will be charged for a permit. This could effectively eliminate it because it becomes cost prohibitive,” Schneider said.  Schneider moved to reduce the annual fee from $50 to $10. The amendment failed.

The bill also regulates the amount of time the signs can be out. They would be able to be out six times a year for a three-day period.

“It’s good that we have some type of authority over these,” Lowery said. He urged the council to pass the bill.  The bill passed.

In another matter, Councilman Tom Schneider  along with Karen McKay introduced a bill that would place the new mayor into the New Money Purchase Pension rather than the Defined Benefit Pension Plan.  Schneider said he wanted to make sure residents knew he would not receive a windfall pension plan by staying in the old plan. If elected mayor, he would be in a 401K type retirement plan. The bill was approved.

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