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Notice/Advertisement Title: Citizens' Commission on Elected Official Compensation Minutes
Contact Name: Kirsten Estose
Contact Telephone Number: (614) 795-0275
Contact Email Address: kmestose@columbus.gov
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The 2026 Citizens' Commission on Elected Official Compensation met for the fifth time on Thursday, March 19 at 8:30am in Columbus City Hall, Council Chambers (90 W Broad St, Second Floor, Columbus OH 43125). Chair Christopher Moses, Commissioner Liz Caslin-Turner, Commissioner Alyvia Johnson, and Commissioner Monica L. Womack were in attendance.
Call to Order
Chair Moses called the meeting to order at 8:33am.
Presentation on the Duties of the City Council and the Council President
Chief of Staff to the City Council, John Tannous, presented on the roles and responsibilities of the City Council and the Council President.
Chief Tannous provided a summary of what City Council is, the responsibilities of the Councilmembers in chair and vice chair committees, and the responsibilities of the Council President in providing leadership to the City Council. Chief Tannous highlighted how the role has evolved over the decades and how that relates to compensation, noting that Councilmembers are expected to be highly accessible to the community.
Chief Tannous also discussed historic debates about whether the role of the Councilmember is a full-time or part-time role, as the City Charter is silent on this topic. He also presented a philosophy of compensation regarding public servants and elected officers.
Commissioner Johnson asked about the qualifications to be a Councilmember, and the skills necessary to succeed in the role.
Commissioner Johnson asked whether all Councilmembers are paid the same regardless of their outside employment status.
Commissioner Womack asked how outside interests are captured and what it would take to make the job full-time officially.
Chair Moses asked how the role might change if the election model changed to a ward-based system.
Chair Moses asked which cities and city councils the Columbus City Council sees as peers.
Chair Moses asked whether the Council could ever grow in size.
Chair Moses noted that the Council President's salary is distinguished from the Member salary. He asked whether this spread was appropriate and whether other leadership roles within Council would justify different compensation.
Recess
The Commission adjourned for a five-minute recess, starting at 9:24am.
Presentation on the Benchmark City Survey
Greg Beaverson, the City's compensation manager, provided a presentation on the survey responses from benchmark cities as it pertains to the compensation of the Mayor, the City Council, and the Council President. In all cases, the roles are compensated above the median from the surveyed cities.
Mr. Beaverson noted outliers in the data and some unusual responses where relevant, presenting different ways to analyze the available data.
Chair Moses asked how city managers come into their roles, whether they are appointed or hired.
Commissioner Womack asked why Atlanta reported paying their Mayor and the City Manager equally.
Discussion
Chair Moses noted the factors that he is weighting more heavily as he considers making recommendations.
Chair Moses also highlighted the spectrum of compensation philosophy, defining a "public servant" model and a "quality" model. He asked other Commissioners to comment on their philosophies, which resulted in discussion on this topic amongst all Commissioners.
Take-Home Packet
Kirsten Estose reviewed the contents of the Commissioners' take-home packet as they prepare for deliberation and beginning to form recommendations at the upcoming meeting.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:22am.
The next meeting of the Commission will be on March 26th at 8:30am in Council Chambers.