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Mayor Miesha Headen stands with her family as
Congresswoman Marcia Fudge administers the oath of office |
Just before Miesha Wilson Headen
was publicly sworn in December 2 as mayor of Richmond Heights on a bright but
cold Sunday afternoon at Faith United Church of Christ on Richmond Road, Congresswoman
Marcia Fudge warned her that this would be the most harmonious moment of her
tenure. A sanctuary full of well-wishers chuckled at Fudge’s wry but rueful
observation.
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High hopes and good spirits were everywhere as
Mayor Headen is sworn into office December 2 |
On January 28, at a Committee of
the Whole council meeting, less than two months after those few hours of good
feelings, a majority of the city’s legislators was giving the nod to a seemingly
innocuous ordinance that would change the classification of the city’s Director
of Public Safety from an appointed position to an elected one. In Richmond
Heights, as in many of this area’s smaller suburbs, the mayor appoints herself
as safety director to supplement what would otherwise be too paltry a mayoral
salary. Current ordinances set the mayor’s salary at $15,000 and the safety
director’s salary at $16,000.
Supporters of the reclassification
suggested that this was a mere tweaking of the city’s governance structure, a
minor housekeeping matter that would align with both standard practice and
reality: since the safety director was habitually self-appointed by the mayor,
why not just call the safety director an elected official?
Well, it turns out, as Headen was
quick to note, such a move would basically cut her salary in half, since the
city’s elected officials are not eligible to have their health care premiums
paid by municipal funds. Headen said her family’s monthly health care premiums
would easily exceed a thousand dollars, essentially wiping out her director’s
salary.
While neither council president
David Roche, nor finance committee chair
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| Council President David Roche |
Donald O’Toole, both of whom are
long-standing city legislators, acknowledged the validity of the mayor’s
objection, they seemed neither surprised or deterred by the prospect of
dismembering the mayor’s pay.
The reclassification measure is on
the agenda for tonight’s council meeting and could be passed without further
discussion. Headen would of course be expected to veto the legislation, but
Roche presently has the votes to override virtually any mayoral veto.
The city’s law director, Todd
Hunt, could play a decisive role here. Changing the compensation of an elected
official midterm is generally frowned upon, even where it might be legal. Hunt,
who has worked closely with the council majority for many years, could slow
down this looming confrontation or stand aside and allow this train wreck of a
bill to proceed.
The how and why the mayor and council
came to be so quickly at odds will be the subject of a post later this week.
