Portage ordinance proposal targets panel chair's salary
Post-Tribune
February 03, 2017
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-new-ordinance-st-0206-20170203-story.html
The Portage City Council is expected to hear an ordinance proposal Tuesday that would strip the chairman of the city's Utility Services Board of the position's $30,000 salary.
Mayor James Snyder is the current chairman.
The proposed ordinances also name the city's clerk-treasurer as the treasurer of the board. The clerk-treasurer would manage board funds and the checkbook while paying out expenses as ordered by the board, according to the proposals.
The proposals come a few months after Snyder upset many city officials by ordering board staff to send payments to two legal firms representing Snyder in a federal investigation that resulted in a public corruption indictment Nov. 18.
Snyder said the ordinances are "below humanity," and the mayor said he hopes to reach resolution before the ordinances go from the council floor to a court room floor.
"You can't lower the mayor's salary because you can starve a man out," Snyder said. "It's just very low. All of the individuals behind this, when I'm found innocent, which will be very shortly, will probably wish they didn't go this route."
He said he has legal help studying state law and the ordinances. He also dismissed claims the ordinances had nothing to do with his federal indictment last November on public corruption charges.
Snyder is a member of the board and appoints four of the seven members, with the council appointing the rest. The board typically appoints the mayor as its chairman with a $30,000 salary.
"It's one of the steps I think is necessary to bring back some credence back to the utility services board," said Council President Mark Oprisko, who is the board's vice chair.
Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham said the proposed ordinances are a direct result of Snyder's efforts last September to get the board to pay $93,000 in legal fees.
Snyder had not consulted any other board members or discussed the payments publicly up to that point. Oprisko called the attempt "an injustice."
In September, the board sent a $6,100 check to Portage-based legal firm Dogan and Dogan and almost $87,400 to Tom Kirsch, an attorney with Winston and Strawn. Both firms returned the checks, indicating they could not accept the checks from the board because they were representing Snyder as an individual.
At the time, Oprisko intervened to stop any reimbursements or payments related to the expenses.
"That was a pretty big deal," Stidham said.
The board also paid Snyder extra money as compensation for several city staff members who did work for the utility board outside of their normal duties.
The board and the City of Portage are two separate entities, but the City Council passes ordinances that affect leadership and other key elements of the board.
Stidham said he believes the ordinances, if passed, will pass legal muster as they are directed toward the board chairperson as an appointed official.
State law prohibits legislative bodies from eliminating or significantly reducing elected officers' salaries, which are set locally by salary ordinances.
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