Rochester City Council voted to create a commission to review council pay on March 24, but turned down a proposal that would have tied compensation to meeting attendance.
Council member Michael Patterson presented an amendment that allowed the compensation committee to look at council members’ salaries for 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029; it passed.
Patterson then introduced an amendment about salary adjustments, which proposed that until the salary commission makes a recommendation, council members salaries will remain the same salary they received in 2025. The amendment was also approved.
“This is not a pay increase, it’s not a pay change, it simply says that our pay will be what our pay currently is,” Patterson explained.
The last amendment that was proposed was to strike the entire attendance policy.
Council member Mitch Gruber said that the entire purpose of the legislation he put forward is to make sure that council members are treated the exact same as any other City of Rochester employee.
“[The legislation proposes] that we do not set our own salaries and that we do not get paid when we don’t show up and we don’t notice it, that is how every other employee in the city is treated, that’s how probably 95% of our constituents are treated,” Gruber said. “This amendment is just taking that language out.”
Several council members expressed the importance of attendance, but raised concerns about availability when it comes to balancing their own personal schedules.
As a way to increase attendance accessibility, Lupien proposed that the council should consider remote attendance through Zoom.
— Kerria Weaver works as the Government and You reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, with a focus on how government actions affect communities and neighborhoods in Rochester and in Monroe County.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: City Council approves pay commission, drops attendance rule
Reporting by Kerria Weaver, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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