The Wilkes-Barre City Council on Thursday voted 4-0 to promote assistant clerk Cathy Payne to city clerk when Jim Ryan retires from the position April 2.
Payne will be paid an annual salary of $77,000. The union representing city hall workers will post the assistant clerk position at a salary of $45,000.
City resident and towing company operator Bob Kadluboski objected to Payne receiving âa $20,000 raise,â calling it âanother slap in the face to city taxpayers.â He asked what her qualifications were and why the opening wasnât advertised.
Jason Carr, who owns rental properties in the city, said the clerk post warrants a salary of no more than $50,000, and he claimed that of the 14 largest cities in Pennsylvania, only Philadelphia and Pittsburgh employ assistant clerks. He also said a council member told him Payne would retire by the end of the year.
Wilkes-Barre officials faced more than their share of challenges in 2020, but Mayor George Brown has no regrets about running for the office or the decisions heâs made over the past year.
Brown, 69, reflected last week on his first year as the cityâs chief executive and his plans and goals for the future of his hometown that he hopes he and his administration can accomplish during his first term in office.
After his Jan. 6 inauguration, Brown said, he spent his first month in office evaluating staffing and revising the spending plan of his predecessor, Tony George, whose 2020 budget Brown believes relied on overly optimistic revenue projections.
The COVID-19 pandemic will surely continue to dominate our coverage as we turn the page to 2021. It will continue to impact schools, the court system, small businesses and more. As we move forward, here are the stories weâll be following in 2021:
Schools
Wilkes-Barre Area School District plans to merge its three highs schools â GAR, Meyers and Coughlin â after opening the new consolidated high school in Plains Twp. in August or September.
The $121 million project began in April 2019 and was 71% complete in December. This yearâs graduating classes at GAR, Meyers and Coughlin will be the last.
The district may sell the Coughlin property in downtown Wilkes-Barre and the Meyers property in South Wilkes-Barre in 2021. The district plans to use GAR as a middle school after merging the high schools.