Submitted photo
i
Shown here are, in the
front row (L-R), Armani
McCray, Dejon Morring,
Gionni Roberts, Zachary
Cook, Chaunsae Imez
Williams and April
Winn, School Counselor.
In the back row (L-R)
are Lakeisha Hill,
Assistant Principal,
Marquise Williams,
Jordan Lowry, Ricardo
Reid and Steven Brown.
Main Street Academy
students participate in
No Tobacco Program
SPECIAL TO THE CHRON1SLE
Main Street Academy has teamed with Insight's No'Bacco program.
The program is designed to increase awareness of the negative effects of nicotine
and tobacco use among teens.
A benefit of this program is that it promotes student leadership.
The program is conducted in a club format and is student directed. Students involved
in the program received a $50 Visa Gift Card, if they had perfect attendance during a
certain time period.
City Council OKs
raises for firefighters
and police officers
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem
City Council passed raises
for police officers and fire
fighters on Tuesday, Jan.
19, and now looks toward
the budget process to
address pay disparities for
other city workers.
Winston-Salem is
behind other Triad cities
and other large North
Carolina cities in police
and fire pay. The new plan
is designed to stop the loss
of trained officers and fire
fighters who are leaving
the city for other towns and
cities that pay more.
"I think this is a huge
step in the right direction to
make sure that we, number
one, are being competitive
with new police officers
and firefighters and, num
ber two, making sure we're
bridging the gap for our
veteran police officers and
firefighters," said City
Council Member James
Taylor, who chairs the
Public Safety Committee.
The plan will raise the
minimum pay for sworn
police officers and certified
firefighters by 7.5 percent
starting in February. Those
paid below that will have
their salaries adjusted to
meet the new minimum.
There will also be a 2 per
cent annual supplemental
raise in February for those
with at least one year of
tenure. Pending approval
U in future budgets, the sup
plement would reoccur
annually in January. This is
in addition to normal merit
raises in July.
Though it will narrow
the gap, the plan will still
leave police and fire pay
below that of departments
in other cities. It will also
- cause ? compression
between new employees
and those with years of
tenure. The plan was
described as a temporary
measure in committee
meetings and does not take
the place of restructuring
police and fire pay plans to
r
make them more competi
tive with other cities, which
is needed for the long term.
It also doesn't address
the disparities in the pay of
other city workers. During
the finance committee
meeting on Jan 11, City
Human Resources Director
Carmen Caruth said a sur
vey of positions in the gen
eral pay plan found 68 per
cent were bdlow the sur
veyed cities in hiring
salaries and about 74 per
cent were behind in actual
salaries.
"We do have disparities
in the other ranks," she told
the committee.
Caruth said a proposal
will be brought to the
finance committee to begin
to address those disparities
during the budget process,
including a recommenda
tion to raise the minimum
wage from $10.10.
The police and fire rais
es are covered by an
increase in city revenues
from sources like property
taxes. Addressing dispari
ties in the general pay plan
would require looking at
other revenue sources or
taxes.
City 'Council members
Dan Besse and Denise
Adams both said they've
been getting emails from
non-sworn police employ
ees, like those who handle
communications and
records,' who were not
included in the raises.
Adams said that she
personally had no problem
raising taxes to help close
city wage gaps.
"When we tout that we
are the lowest tax-paying
city for a city our size in
North Carolina, I'm not
proud of that, not when we
are failing to pay our
employees and duly com
l
pensate them," said Adams,
a member of the finance
committee.
Adams said benefits
should also be examined,
like a 401(k). Except for
police officers, Winston
Salem does not contribute
to an employee's 401(k),
which is a common prac
tice for cities and towns.
Besse said when police
officers packed the City
Council room and spoke
before the council on their
pay issue last year, that
helped the council take
action.
"It was also very help
ful that the police officers
came and presented their
case directly, that was a
godsend for good policy in
Winston-Salem because
.that gave us an opening to
push reform through," he
said. .
Besse, who chairs the
- public works committee, ?
also said the pay for other
city workers needs to be
dealt with.
"We need to look again
at other employee cate
gories where we ate clearly
below market and work
over time to adjust those as
well," said Besse.
But he also cautioned
that the City Council can
only do "as much as we
have the budget for and as
much as the taxpayer and
voters will support." He
said closing wage gaps
would probably take priori
ty over adding benefits and
that, if needed, he might
consider raising taxes.
A draft of the budget is
scheduled to be presented
to the finance committee in
March and approved by the
City Council in June for
implementation in July.
V
Bene
Adams
Taylor
400 Is the magical number
A woman who takes at least 400-800 megs of Folic Acid
dally can prevent almost 70% of certain types of
birth defects.
Ask your provider or health educator for
more information.
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