Should Cedar Falls Move to a Part-Time Mayor?

Should Cedar Falls move to having a part-time mayor?

That's a recommendation from the city's Budget Task Force, a group convened to look for ways to create savings to forestall a potential future budget shortfall. The task force recommends moving to a part-time mayor who would oversee a city administrator. The city administrator would take over many of the mayor's duties.

The mayor's current full-time salary and benefits will be $114,750 for fiscal year 2014, according to a task force report.

"Potentially 50-75 percent ($55,000 - $70,000) of the current mayor's salary and benefit costs could be saved once other management salaries are adjusted when internal departmental responsibilities are reassigned," the report says.

Cedar Falls and Waterloo, along with Council Bluffs, are some of the only large towns in the state that still employ a full-time mayor, according to the report.

Part-time mayors in Iowa make between $6,500 and $15,000, the report says. The part-time mayor salary for Cedar Falls could range from $6,500 - $30,000 depending of the expectations in terms of time commitment. The city already employes an Administrative Services Director, and that job could be transitioned to a City Manager or City Administrator, which would make the transition cost-neutral under the task force's recommendations.

The Cedar Falls City Council needs to make a decision on the matter soon, in order to establish the mayor's salary prior to November's city government elections under Iowa law. The change would go into effect in Jan. 2016, after the 2015 election. The time lag would give potential candidates time to consider if they want the job with a reduced salary and time commitment.

The task force's recommendations have already led to at least one other major city staffing change - Cedar Falls City Attorney Tom Meyer was laid off April 1.

Cedar Falls had a part-time mayor until 1975, according to the report, and the job has changed drastically since then:

The sophistication of city departments has simply evolved over nearly four decades eliminating many of the daily management and supervisory work activities previously contemplated in 1976 as work of the Mayor when the full-time position was viewed to be necessary based on management or supervisory work load.

However, Jon Crews the current mayor who has served on-and-off in the position for a collective 24 years, disagrees with the task force's recommendations.

"I view the job of being mayor as the chief elected leader of our community not just of city government," he wrote in comments on the task force report. "Businesses, schools and organizations appreciate that a full-time mayor can often show up to support their programs. I also believe it is important to have the time, energy and knowledge to consider questions and concerns of our citizens."

He cited the things being employed full-time as mayor has allowed him to work on, including partnering with local, state and federal authorities on recovery after the flood of 2008, in developing the Cedar Falls Industrial Park and on passing the Local Option Sales Tax, among other things.

"The system Cedar Falls uses has produced a very positive city that is the envy of many other Iowa cities. We should not rush to change that system in a couple of weeks," he said.

What do you think? Should Cedar Falls move to a part-time mayor or stick with the current system? Tell us in the comments.

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