Sardis board decreases mayor’s salary

By Rupert Howell
Sardis Mayor Lula Palmer didn’t get a vote when that town’s board of alderman voted to cut her salary with a veto-proof unanimous 5-0 vote Tuesday at the end of the regular December board meeting.
Palmer’s salary will be reduced to $1,000, the same as when she took office in June of this year, from $1,400 per month.
In August Palmer asked for a raise to $1,800 and after a long discussion, Alderman-at-Large Michael Price made a motion to raise the mayor’s salary to $1,400.
A 2-2 tie on that motion occurred as Alderman Bonnie Smith did not attend the special called meeting and Palmer had the rare opportunity to cast a deciding vote which she did in her favor.
Aldermen Jojo Still and Tommy Rayburn voted against the raise in the July vote and Aldermen Clarence “Boo-Boo” Jones voted in favor. During those June meetings the majority of the board also voted against raises for themselves.
And it was Alderman-At-Large Price who made the motion to decrease the mayor’s salary during last Tuesday’s meeting stating he hasn’t seen progress nor growth, a stipulation he put into his original motion when he sought a raise for Palmer.
Alderman Still wanted it known that his vote to decrease the mayor’s salary was not based on performance but on his original vote in June against raises for the entire board.
Former Sardis Mayors Richard Darby and Rusty Dye received $1,800 per month. The salary was raised to that amount when Darby was in office working on the Sardis Lake Project and was considered a full-time mayor.
The late Dye succeeded Darby and received the same amount until into his second term when aldermen became disgruntled with his performance and cut the amount to $600 per month, $100 more per month than alderman’s salary.
Billy Russell was later elected and during his second term asked for an increase with aldermen deciding the mayor should make twice the aldermen’s salary, $1,000.