‘A resounding message’

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City approves across-the-board employee pay increases

Gonzales city employees will have an extra $2,080 in their pockets beginning Oct. 1 as a result of an across-the-board salary increase approved Tuesday by the Gonzales City Council.

“[The salary increase] sends a resounding message to the employees, that this Council supports our employees,” said city manager Allen Barnes.

The City Council’s decision to enact the salary increase comes, at least in part, in response to the marketplace. A salary increase has been approved for Gonzales County employees, at least some area cities are already offering higher salaries for comparable positions and lucrative paychecks from the oilfield are creating obstacles which are harder and harder for the city to overcome.

“We have a great, great city staff – and by city staff, I don’t just mean department heads, I mean the guys who work in the water department and the parks department, police department – I would hate to lose anybody we have,” Barnes said in presenting the proposal to the Council.

Uncertainty also played a part in recommending the pay increase.

“[The salary increase] will alleviate some of the pressures that department heads have thinking, ‘when’s the next shoe going to fall’?” Barnes said.

Barnes told the City Council that Cuero is considering raising its starting salary for employees to $13 per hour, which is $1 more than Gonzales currently offers.

Applicants for city jobs have been very slow compared to previous years, Barnes said, which he blames on the oilfield, although he admitted “we’re fighting with McDonalds and Buc-ees for applicants.”

One of the biggest concerns for the city was the impact not increasing salaries would have on the Gonzales Police Department.

“The facts of life are, there’s a very high probability that we will lose a significant number of our policemen, and probably a significant number of our other employees to the county,” Barnes warned the Council. He said the Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office has four additional deputy slots starting Oct. 1. “There’s a potential that shortly after that, we would lose several police officers.”

Police Chief Tim Crow agreed that without the salary increase, his department could have faced a crisis situation.

“[The salary increase] was to prevent a crisis from occurring, before it happened. This keeps us competitive with the county, it also keeps us competitive with the surrounding communities, and will hopefully lead to a longer retention of the officers,” Crow said Wednesday.

“We want to be able to hire the best candidates we can. If we’re at a lower pay scale, then the better candidates will go to the higher paying agency. Our objective is to provide the best service we can to the community. We need to be able to hire the best qualified officers we can find,” he explained. The police department currently has five positions open.

“[The City Council] needed to keep us competitive with what our local market is turning out to be. We want to retain our people, whether they’re mowing grass or enforcing the law or putting out a fire, we want to retain our people. We have to do everything we can to keep them employed,” Crow said.

Councilman Clarence Opiela vocalized the consensus of the Council, saying “We can’t afford to lose any police officers.”

While the salary increase approved increases salaries for all employees, the increase to $41,000 for a beginning police officer is consistent with what the sheriff’s office is offering its deputies, Barnes said.

“I really believe it’s necessary,” Opiela said of the salary increase. “I see people leaving all the time, everywhere.”

“In order to remain competitive [with the marketplace], we’re going to have to do something,” said Mayor Bobby Logan.

“We really can’t wait too much longer,” Councilman Tommy Schurig warned before the Council unanimously approved the increase.

The annual impact on the budget for salaries is approximately $250,000, Barnes told the Council. The current salary basis and benefits through the end of the fiscal year (March 30) is just under $2,046,000. By matching what Gonzales County is doing, it would increase the city’s cost to $2,214,000. The city currently has $2.5 million budgeted for salary and benefits, Barnes said, so with the increases beginning Oct. 1, he anticipates a $326,000 surplus for salaries at the end of the year.

Vacancies within the city

Barnes told the City Council that about 30 applications have been received for the vacant Parks and Recreation director’s position, and that “several applications” have been received for the municipal court clerk and city secretary positions.

Barnes also announced that Oliver Davis, curator for the Gonzales County Museum, has submitted his resignation citing health reasons. His last day is Oct. 12.

The City Council discussed a proposed $17,000 salary increase to $40,000 for the museum curator position in order to attract “someone who is trained to be a museum curator.” City staff will discuss salary expectations with Texas State University museum program personnel – and possibly other resources for salary comparisons – and report their findings to the Council. Barnes said the curator position has not yet been advertised.

Speculating on what applicants might be interested in the Gonzales museum, Barnes said, “If you can go to the museum that houses the cannon that started the Texas revolution, that’s got to be a feather in your cap.”

Logan expressed concern that Gonzales is a stepping stone to bigger cities and bigger jobs. “As a small community, we can be a stepping stone in most categories,” Barnes consoled the Council. “That’s the just the nature of a small town.”

The Council tabled a decision on the museum curator’s salary.

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