LARGO -- The 4-3 vote to give City Manager Steve Stanton a 4 percent raise has been upheld by the opinion of a local lawyer who serves as a city attorney in Pinellas County.
John Hubbard interpreted the tricky and ambiguous language of the city Charter to mean that a 4-3 vote, not a super majority of five, was sufficient to grant a raise.
Hubbard had been asked by both Mayor Bob Jackson, who thought a five vote majority was needed, and Stanton to give his interpretation.
The decision was announced late Tuesday.
Had Stanton not gotten the raise, he threatened to invoke a clause of his contract that would have allowed him to walk away with benefits amounting to about $150,000.