MAYORS have two functions – one is a combination cheerleader/administrator relentlessly promoting the city while ensuring the services of the municipality are run efficiently and prudently. The other function is ceremonial – representing the city at social occasions.
Chances are the first function, with the exception of evening council meetings, can more or less be performed during business hours. The second function is one primarily taking place on evenings and weekends.
It’s important to consider the differences and time commitments between the two.
No one would begrudge paying a mayor a reasonable wage for the first function. Setting the course of a city’s economic and social progress while ensuring its government structure is the best it can be is not an easy job and having a properly compensated mayor makes perfect sense.
But what would you pay for the ceremonial part of the mayor’s job? It’s not so much who the person is on these occasions but what the office of the mayor represents, a sort of head of state and a connection between the people at the particular event and the overall structure of society.
Do we then pay more or less for this sort of function and should the after hours nature be considered?
These and other considerations need to be addressed in developing any full-time mayoral proposal.
