Allentown City Council OKs salary-hike ballot questions, but rejects term-limit measures

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown voters will see several questions on their ballots this fall after city council on Wednesday approved measures that could land big raises for its members and the city controller.

But council later voted down ballot questions that could have set term limits for both offices.

• Allentown City Council approved a ballot question that will ask voters to more than double their annual pay 
• The city controller could also see a significant raise if voters approve the ballot questions
• Council members rejected proposals to set term limits on both offices 

Voters will be asked whether to raise Allentown City Council members’ salaries from $6,400 — the same as it was more than 25 years ago — to $15,000.

The council’s president would earn $16,000 a year, if the ballot question is approved by voters.

A second ballot question could see the controller’s salary jump about 50% by linking it to the mayor’s pay.

Controller Jeff Glazier said he earns a salary of $49,900, the pay rate that was set when Allentown voters approved the city’s home-rule charter in 1996.

The ballot question unanimously approved Wednesday night by city council would set the controller’s salary at 80% of the mayor’s. That means the controller would take home $76,000, based on Mayor Matt Tuerk’s current $95,000 salary.

‘Embarrassing’ salary?

The proposal to increase city council salaries had less support, with members Ce-Ce Gerlach and Natalie Santos voting against it.

Gerlach told her colleagues she was “uncomfortable” asking Allentown residents to authorize a raise for them, adding she had no issue serving eight years for free on the Allentown School District board.

“I love my job; I love this; I love the legislative process,” Gerlach said. “You can reduce my (pay). It's not like I'm paying my bills off of this salary.”

But member Candida Affa said she feels members’ salaries are “kind of embarrassing” and “almost like a slap in the face.”

Allentown council members serve more than 125,000 residents in Pennsylvania’s third-largest city and make far less than their counterparts in much smaller cities, Affa said.

Council President Daryl Hendricks also called his salary “embarrassing.” He earlier said it was “ridiculous” that council members and controllers have not gotten raises since 1997.

Terms unlimited

City council was also exploring whether to seek term limits for its own members and the controller, but both potential ballot questions were voted down Wednesday night.

Gerlach and member Ed Zucal co-sponsored the measures that would have capped controllers’ tenures at two terms, while council members would have been limited to three terms.

Santos joined Gerlach and Zucal in voting to authorize the term-limit ballot questions, but they were defeated by Hendricks, Affa and members Santo Napoli and Cynthia Mota.

Affa and Hendricks said they believe term limits will force out good members too soon and feel voters will ensure no one stays in office too long.

Hendricks is in the middle of his third term on council, while Affa will likely win a third term in November after earning the Democratic primary’s nomination for re-election in May.

Allentown voters are set to see a third question on their 2023 general election ballots after thousands of residents signed petitions in support of an alternative first-response program in the city.