(The Center Square)– While the city council and mayoral races in Tucson were won in landslides Tuesday night, the fate of Proposition 413 remains unclear as of Wednesday afternoon.
Proposition 413 would raise the pay of the Tucson mayor and city council significantly, as they currently make $42,000 and $24,000 in the roles, respectively. “Yes” leads by 557 votes with 38,732 so far, and “No” is behind with 38,175 votes.
If passed, the mayor would make $95,750, and the city council members would make $76,000. It would make the office one of the highest paid mayors in Arizona. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego oversees the city of more than 1.6 million residents for $88,000 a year. Mesa Mayor John Giles’ base salary is $73,545.
The comparison that was used was the salaries of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, who make $76,000. In addition, the city has not increased pay for the leaders since 1999, according to the website.
The “yes” effort was backed by the Pima County Democratic Party, the Tucson Metro Chamber and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, among other groups and lawmakers. The raises would take effect on December 4.
Although the vote to raise pay is close, Mayor Regina Romero, as well as councilmembers Lane Santa Cruz, Paul Cunningham, Nikki Lee easily defeated their Republican opponents, The Center Square reported last night.
Romero is leading with 61%, Santa Cruz is leading with 63%, Cunningham is leading with 64% and Lee is leading with 65% so far. The council is divided into six wards, and every single member is a Democrat.