BY SARAH GREGORY
STAFF WRITER
Members of the Greeneville Civil Service Board voted Thursday to pursue an increase in per-meeting pay.
Currently, Civil Service Board members receive $25 per meeting. That amount has not changed since the creation of the Town's Civil Service system in the early 1950s.
Thursday's action recommends raising that amount to $50 per meeting. The measure was approved unanimously with little discussion.
APPROVED EARLIER, NEVER PURSUED
Board Chairman Ed Kershaw said that approximately five years ago the Board voted to increase the per-meeting pay to $50.
At that time, then-Mayor Darrell Bryan approved the increase, which was also given a vote of approval by the Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
In order to take effect, however, the increase needs approval from the Tennessee General Assembly.
Kershaw said that, despite the approval years ago from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, action was never taken to submit the increase to state lawmakers for consideration.
SUBMIT VIA CHARTER?
Thursday's action will essentially request City Administrator Todd Smith to give approval and submit the change along with any other requested revisions to the Town's charter. A number of proposed revisions are currently being studied and discussed.
Kershaw said the change in Civil Service Board meeting pay, if agreed to by Smith, would likely be a short insert into the charter's language that sets the pay rate.
The Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen hopes to complete the process of determining proposed revisions to the Town Charter -- which would likely also include language concerning the Civil Service Board's pay -- by the beginning of December.
At that time, tentatively, the request for changes will be submitted to state Representative David Hawk, R-5th, of Greeneville, to carry to the state legislature for approval and Gov. Bill Haslam's signature during the 2014 legislative session.
The vote on the pay issue was the Board's only action during Thursday's brief meeting.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Civil Service Board will be held Thursday, April 11, at 6 p.m. in the board room at Greeneville Town Hall.
