Council derails proposal increasing pay for Red Oak’s mayor

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At a regular city council last week, council members voted to adopt an ordinance to increase the salary of the mayor from $3,600 a year to $4,800 for the new election term in January.
According to city law, the salary of an elected official cannot be changed during November or December of an election year.
In order to pass the mayoral salary raise, the council needed to pass the first reading of the ordinance and waive the second and third readings at the Oct. 19 meeting.
The first reading passed 3-2, with Roger Waggener and Bill Haufle voting against.
The council voted to waive the second and third readings and pass the ordinance. The council voted 3-2 again, but the motion failed.
According to City Administrator Brad Wright, the motion to waive readings must pass by a vote of 4-1.
Although there was discussion about increasing the mayor’s salary at the council’s Oct. 5 meeting, Wright said neither Waggener nor Haufle indicated a reason to vote against the ordinance.
The council will vote on the second reading at the Nov. 2 meeting.
If the ordinance passes, the mayor’s salary will not increase until the January 2018 term.
Also discussed at the meeting were the Red Oak Tourism and Recreation Committee’s recommendations for the hotel/motel tax grants.
The council unanimously approved the recommendations for the allocation of more than $60,000.
The Shoppes on Fountain Square received $6,375 for “Shop, Dine and Spend Your Time” and $3,250 for the “Southwest Iowa Bridal Expo.”
The Southwest Iowa Arts Council was allocated $5,925 for the 2016 Southwest Iowa Arts Tour.
More than $18,000 was given to the Wilson Performing Arts Center for a big name band in August 2016 and for television advertising.