A long debate over city council salaries finally came to a vote Monday night in Warner Robins.
After more than a month of debate over whether city council members should all get a roughly $5,000 salary bump, elected officials were deadlocked.
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Council members Holmes, Robbins, and Lee backed the pay bump. Councilmen Thomas, Lauritsen, and Curtis opposed it.
Since Mayor Randy Toms chose not to vote to break the tie, city attorney Jim Elliott says that tie means the pay raise failed Monday night.
Councilman Clifford Holmes said, "So for whatever reason you chose not to vote tonight you have to live with that."
Holmes spearheaded the failed proposal, arguing council hadn't seen a raise in over 20 years and were not paid as much as council members in similar cities.
Councilman Tim Thomas felt differently and, along with two of his colleagues, voted against the measure. "I'm not going to give myself a raise before we take care of employees," Thomas said.
Mayor Toms could have cast the deciding vote and broke the tie, but deliberately chose not to. "It was my understanding that if I voted on it either way, it couldn't be voted on again for 6 months," said Toms.
A close reading of the city code shows that might not be exactly true -- the language seems to only apply that 6-month freeze to approved ordinances.
When asked about this, Toms conceded he might have read it incorrectly, but said he's still not yet ready to cast a deciding vote on this issue -- he's not sure which way he leans.
Councilman Holmes said after the meeting he intends to reintroduce the pay raise ordinance in the near future.
Mayor Toms said if it comes to a tie vote again, he will cast the deciding vote.