BELLEAIR BLUFFS -- The mayor and commissioners of Belleair Bluffs booked themselves a raise at their workshop meeting Monday night.
If such things are well deserved, this one was long in coming. The last time the elected officials got an increase in the money they receivd was 1988.
With a lot of humorous squirming they agreed to increase the mayor's pay from $300 to $500 a month and commissioners from the present $200 a month to $400 a month.
It really isn't pay by the letter of the law, so the increase can take place immediately, but the commission, which will officially ratify the action by vote next Monday, indicated the raise will go into effect in March.
The money is not compensation because the Belleair Bluffs ordinance that authorized it calls it an "expense allowance."
In other action there was discussion on the restoration and repair of fences in Antique Alley that were apparently the victim of the winds early last fall. Also talked about was buying a wood chipper for the Public Works Department but this was put off to gather more information.
A glitch in the Fire Department's budget was solved by postponing for a year the procurement of a generator that actually would be paid for by a grant. The request will be re-applied for.
The commission by consensus agreed to make a $500 donation to the Red Cross for the benefit of tsunami victims in South Asia. This came on the initiative of City Clerk Debra Sullivan who, it seems, has become the sixth commission member as she participates in the discussion of every subject that comes up.
City Clerks in every other jurisdiction in the area do not speak at meetings unless spoken to and play no role in the discussion of the legislative bodies.
Lt. Bill Hagen of the Sheriff's Office was introduced as the new administrative lieutenant and Jeff Bullock, who will succeed Caroll Williams as the Largo fire chief in March, was also officially introduced.