By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer
MARGATE – Mayor Vaughn Reale started out the new year with an offer to take a bigger cut in his own pay and a hint to the other commissioners to follow suit.
“I am going to throw out some ideas to you of things we should work on to accomplish this year, and maybe there are some here that we can agree on and others we can talk about,” began Mayor Vaughn Reale at the first City Commission meeting of the year, held Thursday, Jan. 5.
One of the first items that Reale threw out for his fellow commission members to consider was the annual salaries that elected officials in Margate currently receive.
“The amount of money paid to the members of the City Commission is in some cases two times higher than what other communities are paying their governing body,” Reale said.
“I am personally knocking my salary to $17,000, and I am inviting my fellow commissioners to join me,” continued Reale. There was no immediate input from either Commissioner Sigmund Rimm or Commissioner John Swift on the salary issue.
Currently the mayor is paid $23,220, which reflects a 10 percent cut that Reale took voluntarily in his municipal paycheck in 2005; otherwise, Reale would have been paid $25,800. Each of the commissioners earns $23,426 annually for his efforts for the city of Margate.
According to a handout Reale provided, neighboring Ventnor City Commissioners are paid $10,000, the mayor there gets $12,000, and Longport’s governing body members are paid $5,000 each.
Some of the other goals Reale mentioned are designed to make Margate a summer destination that is more than a just a beach. Working with the special events committee, the city plans to host four concerts near Lucy the Elephant. The mayor wants to look into hosting a movie night as well. Due to wind conditions, the movies would be shown at Huntington Avenue rather than Washington Avenue, making use of the bandstand.
The mayor and commissioners were in agreement that Margate should once again host the Dean Randazzo Cancer Foundation’s “Surf for a Cause” surf competition. The city also plans to host the Fourth of July fireworks on the beach.
Commissioners are also setting their sites on increasing the number of memorial benches. In 2005 their goal was to sell 15, and they came up short. They set the 2006 goal at 17. Residents and visitors may pick up memorial bench applications at City Hall and at the library.
The commissioners will revisit the goals at the next commission meeting Jan. 12.
