2A — Thursday, January 7, 2016
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

THREE THINGS YOU 
SHOULD KNOW TODAY

Daily Arts Writers hang 
with up-and-coming rock 
band The Moxies, talk to 
student producer, YOG$, 

visit Third Man Records and 
more in a music-centric edition 
of The B-Side

>>SEE B-SIDE, PAGE 1B

2

CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES

International 
Policy Center 
Film Series
WHAT: The film The 
Village Under The Forest 
explores the Israeli/
Palestinian conflict with 
metaphors and narrative.
WHEN: 6 p.m. to 7:35 p.m.
WHERE: Betty Ford 
Classroom - Weill Hall

Michigan 
Dining Hall 
Job Fair 

WHAT: Learn about 
working at Michigan Din-
ing for $11/hour with the 
potential for free meals 
with a 3-hour shift.
WHO: Michigan Dining
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. 
to 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: South 
Quadrangle
Graduate 
Concerto 
Competition 
Finals

WHAT: The finalist 
will recieve the honor of 
preforming at regularly 
scheduled University 
ensembles. 
WHO: School of Music, 
Theater and Dance
WHEN: 4 p.m. 
WHERE: Hill Auditorium

The NRA declined to send 
official 
representatives 

to a nationally televised 

town 
hall 
with 
President 

Barack Obama on gun violence, 
reported CNN. The town hall 
will feature direct audience 
questioning of the president.
1

The 
United 
States 

doubts the accuracy of 
North Korean claims 
about the “spectacular 

success” of its first ever 
Hydrogen bomb, according to 
the New York Times. South 
Korea also doubts the North 
Korean H-Bomb.

3

Zell Visiting 
Writers Series

WHAT: Poet C.S. Giscombe 
will read from his works of 
poetry and sign books.
WHO: C.S. Giscombe
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 
p.m. 
WHERE: Museum of Art - 
Helmut Stern Auditorium

TUESDAY:

Campus Voices

THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk

FRIDAY:

Photos of the Week

WEDNESDAY:

In Other Ivory Towers

MONDAY:

This Week in History

Dance and 
fitness class

WHAT: A free dance 
“HIIT” class for students 
lead by a Body Allure 
Fitness instructor
WHO: Trotter 
Multicultural Center
WHEN: 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Trotter 
Multicultural Center

 
 
 

The School of Engineering 
wished students luck on their 
first day of classes in the new 
semester.

“The sun rises on another semester. 
Make the most of it & look out for each 
other. GO BLUE! #UmichEngin
 — @UMengineering

“This is the first time in my life I’ve ever 
been excited to go back to school after a 
break #TheMichiganDifference”
 —@ameliagraceee18
 
 
 
 

Amelia Cacchione tweeted upon returning 
to campus after winter break.

Each week, “Twitter Talk” 
is a forum to print tweets 
that are fun, informative, 
breaking or newsworthy, 
with an angle on the 
University, Ann Arbor and 
the state. All tweets have 
been edited for accurate 
spelling and grammar. 

Gov. Rick Snyder (R) addressed the 
water toxicity currently afecting 
the state of Michigan. 

“Michigan governor declares 

state of emergency over Flint’s 

toxic tap water” 
- @weatherchannel

FOLLOW US!

#TMD

@michigandaily

“
“

STRUGGLES IN SONG

Ikebana at 
Matthaei

WHAT: An instructor 
will teach participants 
how to arrange flowers in 
a Japanese art of flower 
positioning, the Ikebana.
WHO: Nichols Arboretum 
& Matthei Botanical 
Gardens
WHEN: 1 p.m to 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Off Campus 
Location

Salary raises proposed for Ann Arbor mayor, council members
Salary raises proposed for Ann Arbor mayor, council members

Pay will increase 
by one percent 
for numerous 
city leaders by 

February

By MARLEE BREAKSTONE

Daily Staff Reporter

For the first time in seven 

years, Ann Arbor’s mayor and 
City Council are slated to get 
a raise.

The 
increase, 
proposed 

by the city’s Local Officers’ 
Compensation 
Commission, 

amounts to about a 1 percent 
bump 
in 
each 
official’s 

respective 
salaries 
— 
a 

monthly increase of $35 for 
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher 
Taylor and a $13 monthly 

increase for all 10 City Council 
members.

The LOCC, a seven-member 

body appointed by the mayor 
and council, suggested the 
increase in a memo before 
Monday’s 
City 
Council 

meeting. 
The 
change 
will 

automatically take effect 30 
days 
after 
LOCC’s 
memo, 

unless 
two-thirds 
of 
city 

council 
members 
vote 
in 

objection.

The 
memo 
proposed 

that annual pay for Mayor 
Christopher Taylor be raised 
to $42,860. Additionally, it 
recommended that the annual 
pay for council members be 
adjusted to $16,073. Currently, 
Taylor makes $42,436 and 
City Council members make 
$15,913.50 annually.

Though the city’s charter 

states 
that 
members 
of 

Council — with the exception 

of the mayor — should serve 
without compensation, state 
law allows cities to establish 
an LOCC, which can then 
supersede salary provisions 
in city charters. Under the 
state law, these changes do not 
require voter approval, unlike 
changes to the city charter. 

If 
the 
raise 
goes 
into 

effect, 
the 
mayor 
and 

councilmembers’ salaries will 
collectively total $203,587 for 
each of the next two years, 
a 
$2,000 
overall 
increase 

compared to previous years.

City 
Council 
members 

gave no indication that they 
objected the proposed change 
in compensation at Monday’s 
meeting.

“This pay raise is just one 

more cup of coffee at one 
more 
meeting,” 
said 
City 

Councilmember Sabra Briere 
(D-Ward 1). “It’s not a big 

deal.”

Taylor, who nominated a 

majority of LOCC’s current 
appointees, 
said 
he 
was 

willing to accept whatever 
determination the commission 
made, whether that was an 
increase or decrease in pay.

In an interview Wednesday, 

Briere said the LOCC did 
not disclose to City Council 
members the criteria used to 
determine the 1 percent pay 
raise.

She added that the body 

had asked councilmembers to 
report how much time they 
spent doing their jobs prior 
to meeting in December. The 
LOCC meets every two years 
to discuss pay changes.

Briere said that this was the 

first time she had ever been 
asked to explain how much 
time she spent working for the 
community, and that she had 

reported working about 30 
hours weekly and about 90 to 
110 hours monthly.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel I was 

being underpaid,” Briere said. 
“I’m not in this for the money. 
The 
money 
is 
convenient, 

especially at this point in my 
life, but I didn’t run for office 
expecting to make money. I 
ran for office expecting to 
work.”

City 
Councilmember 

Zachary Ackerman (D-Ward 
4) echoed Briere’s sentiment 
about the increases.

“I don’t think any of us are 

in it for the money,” Ackerman 
said. “We’re all in it to serve 
the community. I know I 
certainly am.”

Pay increases for the mayor 

were more common in past 
years, which saw the mayor’s 
salary rise from $18,300 for 
then-mayor John Hieftje in 

2000 to its current level of 
$42,436 in 2009.

Yearly 
pay 
for 

councilmembers saw a similar 
trend, rising from $9,200 in 
1997 to its currently level of 
$15,913.50 in 2009.

The 
rest 
of 
the 
city’s 

employees 
have 
also 
seen 

increases, 
ranging 
from 

between 1-3 percent in the 
past four years. Before that, 
from 2009 to 2012, most 
city 
employees 
saw 
little 

to no pay increases as the 
city 
experienced 
budget 

challenges. Some voluntarily 
accepted decreases in pay in 
order to help close budget 
gaps, such as the Ann Arbor 
firefighters, who experienced 
a 3 percent pay decrease in 
2010.

The Contagion 
of Violence

WHAT: The first in a 
six-lecture series explor-
ing violence as classified 
as a contagious disease.
WHO: L. Rowell Huesmann, 
Professor of Psychology
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Rave Theater 
- 4100 Carpenter Road

420 Maynard St.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327

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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by 

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HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

Countertenor David Daniels, and Mezzo-Soprano Jamie 
Batron laugh over the struggles that come with singing a 
piece in a different language at the Walgreen Drama Center 
on Wednesday. 

Snowflake 
Making 
Workshop

WHAT: UMHS Dr. 
Thomas L. Clark shares 
his techniques to help 
participants create paper 
snowflakes 
WHO: A. Alfred Taubman 
Health Care Center
WHEN: 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. 
WHERE: Taubman Health 
Center North Lobby, Floor 
1

CLAIRE ABDO/Daily

Mayor Christopher Taylor expresses his gratitude to his fellow city council members at Larcom City Hall on November December 17, 2015.

@michigandaily

