Denver Charter Changes for the November 2003 Election
According to the Rocky Mountain News [August 9, 2003, "Proposal keeps city wage formula"] the latest Charter proposal will keep the salary review currently used to determine City worker wage levels. From the article, "Mayor John Hickenlooper's staff slightly modified proposed changes to Denver's employment agency on Friday, opting to keep a provision that uses a metrowide prevailing wage formula to determine city employees' pay and benefits. The change still allows the mayor and City Council to find other ways to determine wages. That option, officials said, would give them more leeway at a time when Denver faces a combined $117 million deficit this year and next. Hickenlooper's push to overhaul Denver's Career Service Authority has gotten mixed reactions from the 11,000-plus city workers." During the three hearings many employees speaking against changing the charter named the loss of the prevailing wage provision as their biggest concern. It seems like Mayor Hickenlooper, his staff, and Council heard the concerns and have tried to come up with a compromise that will allow a survey to influence Council's deliberations on the matter in addition to providing the administration with the flexibility they want for times of decreasing revenue. There are a couple of other issues in the Charter proposal detailed by the Rocky [August 9, 2003, "A closer look at proposed changes"].
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [August, 9, 2003, "Changes in city pay get early approval"]. The Post says, "Denver City Council members on Friday informally endorsed a revamped system for paying city workers that strips the power to set pay from the Career Service Board. But the council backed away from Hickenlooper's call to scrap annual "prevailing rate" surveys in setting pay. Under the compromise, the board would still conduct surveys of what workers doing comparable jobs get paid, but the council could reject those pay scales."
As a City employee I'm much more comfortable with the Council proposal over the Mayor's original proposal. It seems to keep some objectivity in place but allow for flexibility when needed to respond to the vagaries of sales tax collections. I'm also grateful to the Mayor for coming to the public hearings, listening, being willing to reach a mutually agreeable solution. He is keeping his promise to have an honest and open administration.
9:02:38 AM 
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