The Dora City Council recently agreed to pay raises for several department heads, voting to approve the raises at its Thursday, June 22 meeting.
Mayor Randy Stephens brought up raises during the new business portion of the meeting, saying he had department heads who he felt needed raises.
“Our city could not function without dependable department heads. These folks are loyal to our city, and I feel we need to show them how much they mean to our city with some significant raises,” Stephens said.
Don Cummings and Keith Wright at Horse Creek Goof Course we’re the first two employees mentioned by Stephens. He recommended a $5,000 per year pay increase for both with that pay coming from the Golf Course Fund. Council members agreed and unanimously approved the raises.
Stephens then said he would like to give $5,000 per year raises to Dora Police Chief Jarrod Hall, street department head Jeremy Hicks and city clerk Stacy Turner. Stephens asked for $5,000 per year raises for Hall and Hicks, who have both been employed by the city for more than 10 years. For Turner, Stephens asked for a $3,000 per year raise, saying she had only been with the city for a year, but she had been a “tremendous” hire and is invaluable to the city. Council members also approved those three raises.
Councilman George Sides Jr. brought up possibly giving a raise to Dora Fire Chief Chase Welborn. Stephens said he would like to raise him to $600 per month. The council also approved that raise.
Stephens said he would come to the council in the near future with employee pay raises. He said he wanted to start with department heads before moving to other employees. He added it wouldn’t be an across the board raise.
“The raises are not going to be equal. I’m going to lean heavily on my department heads’ evaluations and how long they’ve been here,” Stephens said. “They work with them every day. They know the ones who call in and don’t come to work, don’t wear a clean uniform, that kind of thing.”
