Colorado Springs City Councilor Mike O’Malley has missed more than a third of Council’s work sessions since he took office by appointment in January 2021. He was elected to a full four-year term in April 2021.
Since taking office, he’s missed 13 of the Council’s 37 work sessions and was hours late for four others and left hours early from another session. Council makes no decisions during work sessions where they’re briefed by staff on upcoming issues, including land development proposals, budgetary matters and ordinance changes.
O’Malley, who represents District 6, has chalked up perfect attendance for regular Council meetings where votes are taken, and he’s missed only two of 16 meetings of the Utilities Board, composed of Council, for which he serves as vice chairman.
Although he didn’t say so, O’Malley’s absences could be connected to his employment. He’s one of the few councilors who hold down a full-time job, a status some say prevents many people from seeking seats on Council.
Asked about his record, O’Malley says in an email, “I’ve attended 100% of all City Charter required Council meetings.” He missed a Springs Utilities Board meeting because he was sick with COVID. He didn’t respond to a question about what impact, if any, his absences have on his decision-making.
When he applied for the appointment in December 2020, after Andy Pico was elected to a State House seat, like the other candidates, he was specifically asked if he was able to put in full-time hours on Council.
While other applicants said such things as, “I am retired and can commit fully to the position,” or “I have been retired since 2015.”
O’Malley simply answered, “Yes.”
O’Malley, retired from the Naval Reserve, works full-time for the U.S. Department of Transportation at Peterson Space Force Base.
The need to work a traditional full-time job acts as a barrier for many seeking a Council seat, a position that pays $6,250 a year. That salary was set decades ago for a job that can now require up to 60 hours per week.
Voters have refused to approve a pay raise, but they may get another crack at the question in coming years.
Voters have voted down three separate measures seeking higher pay for Council members in the last 20 years.
In 2005, a measure asked to set the mayor’s pay at $18,000 a year and Council members’ at $12,000 a year, with adjustments for inflation. That was before the strong-mayor form of government was adopted in 2011. Voters said “no” by a decisive 56-44 margin.
In 2007, by a similar margin of 53-47, they rejected a question proposing annual pay of $12,000 for Council and the mayor.
In 2013, after the strong-mayor form was adopted, voters routed by an 80-20 margin a proposal to pay Council members half ($48,000) of the mayor’s salary ($96,000 at that time) and fund councilors’ benefits as if they were employees. (The City Charter allows the mayor’s salary to be adjusted for inflation every four years. In 2015, it was raised to $103,370, and in 2019, to $114,159.)
Proponents of raising Council pay argue that the demands of the job warrant more pay and that keeping pay low disenfranchises many who can’t afford to spend the required time away from their regular employment. Council holds two regular meetings a month and two work sessions. But committees and other public meetings add to the workload, belying the idea it’s a part-time gig.
Some argue that low pay has led to Council being populated by retired people, those whose spouses can support them and those who are self-employed and can afford to be away from their businesses for up to 60 hours a week. Richard Skorman resigned his seat last year to dedicate more time to his series of retail and restaurant businesses.
Only a handful of people over the last decade held down full-time jobs while serving on Council.
Council President Tom Strand says Council represents a narrow demographic of older men, many of whom are retired from the military, and only a few people of color. He notes that, thankfully, Council has been fortunate to feature women in many seats over the years.
But Strand, an attorney who’s retired from the U.S. Air Force, says Council should reflect the population it serves, and paying $50,000 a year could attract more diverse candidates.
“I’m going to make this a life mission to increase the pay so people in their 30s and 40s who aren’t taken care of by a spouse or parents can do this and still support their families,” he says. “We need to do it. We must do it.”
Jan Martin, who served from 2007 to 2015 and ran her own computer services business at the time, estimated her city position required from 40 to 60 hours per week. Those long days included breakfast meetings, mid-day meetings and evening events where councilors are expected to make appearances.
“The council pay needs to be a living wage,” Martin says in an email. “When you consider County Commissioners and Mayor make over $100,000/year, maybe in the $50,000 range would be a start.”
She suggested splitting the cost between the city and Colorado Springs Utilities.
Today, city taxpayers pay a total of $56,250 a year in salaries to councilors and another $54,000 in expenses ($6,000 each) per year that members can spend on official travel and other expenses. (O’Malley spent $3,439 last year on “challenge” coins with his name on them.)
Voters might get another chance to raise Council pay, in time for the April 2025 city election, if that election schedule holds up under a federal lawsuit filed June 1 that contends April elections place people of color at a disadvantage for voting.
Citizens Project, Colorado Latinos Vote, the League of Women Voters of the Pikes Peak Region and the Black/Latino Leadership Coalition allege the spring election schedule, unusual for larger cities in Colorado, causes an “enormous racial disparity,” because people of color vote at lower rates in the city’s spring elections compared to November elections.
A citizen group that formed in 2020 but didn’t produce an initiative due to the pandemic is now eying the November 2024 election, says political operative and consultant Anthony Carlson.
“Our community is not fully represented when blue collar and middle class families aren’t represented in city leadership because they can’t afford to serve,” he tells the Indy in an email. “Paying a full time wage for full time work will ensure more every day residents of our city have the opportunity to serve and authentically represent our neighborhoods.”
Of course, even if pay goes up, ultimately voters decide who sits on Council. In the 2021 city election, seven of the 21 candidates running for six seats were younger than 40; none prevailed.
An analysis of voter turnout showed that less than 8 percent of voters 18 to 29 voted in the election, and 10.5 percent of those 30 to 39 cast ballots. The largest turnout (53.7 percent) was seen in voters 65 and older.
