(From left) Bloomington City Council member Dave Rollo and Bloomington City Clerk Nicole Bolden.
(Courtesy of Community Access Television Services (CATS))
The Bloomington City Council wants to raise the city clerk’s salary by about 34 percent in 2024.
Council members on Wednesday approved a resolution to raise Nicole Bolden’s pay from her 2023 salary of $64,773 to $87,000 next year. It comes after Bolden requested a raise during 2024 city budget hearings last week.
The resolution is non-binding and serves only as an expression of the council’s will. It also calls on Mayor John Hamilton to “pursue any necessary and appropriate action to effectuate the increase as part of the 2024 city budget.”
Bolden, who is an elected official, is eligible for a 5 percent increase next year. That would bring her salary to about $68,011. She has said she wants her salary to be closer to that of city department heads. On average, department heads make around $112,000.
The raise suggested by the council is significantly less than what the resolution’s sponsor, council member Matt Flaherty, wanted. In its original form, the resolution sought to raise Bolden’s pay about 60 percent, to $104,089 — but the council adopted an amendment bringing it to $87,000.
The amendment was co-sponsored by council members Dave Rollo and Sue Sgambelluri. It passed by a 5-4 vote. Council members Rollo, Sgambelluri, Jim Sims, Ron Smith and Susan Sandberg supported it. Flaherty, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, Steve Volan, and Kate Rosenbarger voted against it.
Like Bolden, Flaherty said the city clerk’s salary should be closer to that of city department heads. The original resolution included language stating as much, but it was removed as part of Rollo’s amendment.
“My view is that the clerk’s office is a department and that we should treat compensation of the clerk accordingly,” Flaherty said. “I haven’t really heard a compelling reason why that’s not true from anyone.”
Bloomington City Council member Matt Flaherty (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Rollo said he believes Bolden is not adequately paid but disagrees that pay should be on par with that of city department heads.
“I don’t agree for the following reasons: it is an elected position, number one,” Rollo said. “It does not work for the mayor. Number two, the work is very different in terms of the various initiatives and projects — and actually, the general size of the office. Even the smallest department is twice the size of the clerk’s office.”
Bloomington City Council member Dave Rollo (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Rollo said he settled on $87,000 after conferring with the city’s Human Resources Department.
During a 2016-2017 salary study, consultants compared the Bloomington city clerk’s job duties with those of other city clerks across Indiana to produce a list of peer cities, according to the department. Peer cities include Anderson, Terre Haute, Mishawaka, Noblesville, Fishers, Evansville, Elkhart, Greenwood, Gary, Lawrence and Fort Wayne.
The median 2024 salary for clerks of those cities is projected to be $74,653. That is more than $6,600 more than what Bolden would make next year if her salary were raised five percent, as proposed in Hamilton’s draft budget.
Flaherty disagreed with Rollo, saying, “I worry that (by) benchmarking to existing salaries of clerks of other cities feeds into an existing systemic inequity; it enshrines it by embracing that as the standard. I think the position is probably undervalued and historically under-compensated everywhere.”
Bolden has said her salary should be at least on par with that of the council attorney for next year, which is about $104,062.
Responding to the council members’ discussion, Bolden expressed disappointment and discomfort.
“It is incredibly awkward to sit in this room and listen to people discussing the salary of the city clerk without having a natural role in the discussion,” Bolden said. “I am concerned about the way that this discussion has folded overall.”
Bloomington City Clerk Nicole Bolden (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Bolden also reiterated a point she made when first requesting a raise: her office attends longer and more frequent meetings and provides more services than other cities. On top of that, Bolden said she has a law degree and has obtained her Indiana-accredited municipal clerk certification.
The city clerk’s serves as the council’s official record keeper, officiates marriages, certifies documents and deeds, prepares and arranges public notices, serves as a satellite voting registration office, hears and adjudicates parking ticket appeals, updates and maintains the city code, and coordinates recruitment for city boards and commissions, among other tasks.
Both David Henry, the chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party, and David Johns, the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, authored letters to Hamilton and the council expressing support for Bolden’s request.
Several members of the public, including former city council member and county commissioner Charlotte Zietlow, spoke in favor of raising Bolden’s salary.
The council is responsible for fixing elected city officers’ salaries, according to Indiana Code.
