Beachwood Mayor Merle Gorden Suggests Salary Freeze

A measure to raise the salary of Beachwood Mayor Merle Gorden has been a hot topic of discussion on Beachwood Patch and other places for the past several weeks, and now, the measure is off the table.

Beachwood City Council announced the decision to vote down the measure that would raise the full-time mayoral salary, which stands now at around $175,000, The Sun News reports.

Gorden said that he suggested that the council agree to freeze the mayor salary, and council said that they will vote against the raise at their July 1 meeting.

Beachwood Patch readers have been vocal about the possibility of raising the salary.

Beachwood City Schools Board member Steve Rosen spoke in support of the salary increase:
Mayor Gorden is doing a wonderful job as our city leader. Yes, his pay has increased and is more than his predecessor. He is also the first mayor in Beachwood history to work full time in the position and serve as safety director while serving as mayor. If anyone else was to assume the office of Mayor, their salary would be the same as Mr. Gorden, the salary stays with the office, not the person.
But resident Dan Sayre politely opposed:
Merle Gorden is a fine mayor of a great city. My wife and I have lived here nearly 6 years and love it. services are second to none. I feel, however, that his salary and perks are more than adequate for a city of 13,000, and I find his expenditures on lunches extravagant and should be limited to strictly city-enhancing business. As for pens: common, Merle: buy your own!
But some users were more adamant; two users posted on our Boards encouraging residents to speak up about the raise. You can read those here and here.

What do you think of Council's decision? Tell  us in the comments!