Despite commenting last week that pay raises for city officials would be null and void without his signed approval, Mayor Paul Wiehl clarified his confusion on the ordinance that passed Jan. 24.
Wiehl said he assumed the ordinance would become null and void if he did not sign it by Feb. 2 - ten days after the ordinance was passed by Athens City Council.
The ordinance created an average of about a 1 percent raise each year through 2015 for the mayor and an average of about a 2 percent raise for the city auditor and law director.
The pay raise ordinance did not need the mayor's approval to go into effect by Feb. 2, Law Director Pat Lang said, adding that the mayor could have signed the ordinance into effect early or he could have vetoed it within the 10-day time frame.
But since Wiehl did not sign or veto the ordinance, it became a law, Lang said.
There are no ordinances that need the mayor's approval to go into effect, he said.
Only Councilman Elahu Gosney, D-at Large, voted against the ordinance.
Lang said if he is re-elected he will not accept the pay raise.
At last week's meeting, Auditor Kathy Hecht said she had not made a decision about whether she would accept it.
The pay raises were proposed for these three positions because the mayor and auditor are full time positions and the law director is a 3/4-time position, while City Council members are part time.
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Marika Lee
