City Council votes not to increase Mayor Sapelli’s salary

April 11, 2019 | Stephanie Trombley
stephanie@thereminder.com

Councilor Cecilia Calabrese, President Christopher C. Johnson and Councilor Paul C. Cavallo are pictured discussing Agawam Mayor William Sapelli’s salary.
Screen capture from Town of Agawam Vimeo

AGAWAM – During the April 1 Agawam City Council meeting, the Council voted to not increase Agawam Mayor William Sapelli’s salary. If passed, the vote would have allowed for a 30 percent increase, bringing Sapelli’s salary from $85,000 annually to $110,000 annually.

Several Agawam City Council members expressed their opinions on the increase during the meeting before voting. Councilor Dino R. Mercadante said that an increase in taxes for the town of Agawam means that spending needs to be controlled. Mercadante cited a phone call he received from a citizen. “She said, ‘Our taxes went up so much’ and I said, ‘Well, we’re doing a lot of things in town and that’s the price of doing a lot of things.’ Her concern is that she just can’t go any further. She’s on a fixed income, as many of our people are in this town, and there’s a point we reach where we have to draw the line,” Mercadante said.

Mercadante continued, “I have so much respect for our mayor and the job he’s doing. I believe he deserves this raise. But quite frankly, we have so many things on the agenda with this town and we have to draw the line somewhere with regards to these increases. There’s been thought that there’s 100 or some odd people more that make more than our mayor in this town and that’s unfortunate because he leads us. But it’s an unfortunate situation that’s been bred out of time. It’s just, right now, not a good time with all of the things that Agawam is looking at in the very near future, it’s just not a good time with all these increases.”

Mercadante said that he believes the town of Agawam has to stop “hemorrhaging.” He stated, “The amount of increase, especially after the residents of the town have received this tax increase on the real estate. We understand the valuation of these houses have gone up and that’s in part with the taxes have gone up. But people don’t look at it that way. They only look at what they’re taking out of their pocket. There’s not a ‘for sale’ sign on everyone’s house in the town of Agawam where they can glean back that revenue they supposedly make with the evaluation of their house. With that being said, it’s just a payout. We’ve got to stop this. We’ve got to stop the hemorrhaging in this town and quite frankly, it’s time. The Council has to have the will to draw the line on some of this outpouring.”

Councilor Joseph Mineo said he believes that the timing isn’t right to consider a salary increase for the mayor. “I do think Mayor Sapelli has done a good job. I just think the timing isn’t right. Taxes have gone up for residents an extreme amount over the last two years. This is my 20th year and I’ve gotten more phone calls about taxes this year than I ever got,” Mineo said.

Mineo continued, “Again, we’re only doing this just for the mayor. There’s no City Council, there’s no School Committee. I think everybody deserves a raise. Everybody up here and everybody on the School Committee are doing their job. Again, the timing isn’t right. Yes, I was in favor of this two years ago, but two years have gone by and a lot has changed in two years. That’s my reasoning. That’s why, at this point in time, I’m not in favor of it.”

Councilor Robert E. Rossi said he thinks the Council should consider the issue further in the future. “I thought it would probably be more just if we took into consideration and looked at the overall picture of all the officials in this community and see if we can find some kind of value in what they do. There hasn’t been any raise for any School Committee member or and City Council member in the 10-12 years that I can remember, maybe even a little longer. I think they probably deserve some consideration as well. I’m not going to make any argument for the mayor’s job itself, but I would make a suggestion that I think we should go back to the drawing board and look at this thing and just come back with something that makes sense and take a look at the overall picture. And then if you want to put it in perspective of what the budget is and what it may represent to the taxpayers down the road, that would be a fair analysis,” Rossi said.

City Council president Christopher C. Johnson said, “The reality is taxes go up because the Council passes the budget that is submitted to it by the mayor and that budget has an increase in taxes spelled out in black and white, not based upon the value of properties going up.”

Johnson continued, “The taxes went up because we on the Council voted to pass a budget that contained a tax increase. I hear the will of the Council, let’s see if over the next several months, that will is carried out.”

Councilor Robert A. Magovern said he feels the City Council needs to look at the budget closely to improve in the future. “I feel the hardship of the taxes going up. My taxes are going up and everybody else’s taxes are going up and I think that we really have to look at the budget this year like we’ve never looked at the budget in the past,” Magovern said.

Magovern also discussed the salaries of local officials compared to Sapelli’s salary. “Looking at this particular proposal, I’m not necessarily in favor of it where it is right now but I do think the mayor deserves some kind of an increase. Looking at what some of the competitive mayors get in the area, most of them are $125,000 to $135,000. Town managers, which don’t do the job of the mayor, get a lot more. One town manager gets $140,000. The town manager of Amherst gets $162,000 and there’s a hundred people making more money than the mayor is right now,” Magovern said.

Magovern said he believes the salary increase is necessary to stay competitive when Sapelli is no longer in office. “I think we’ve got to look at some type of an increase for the mayor. Not necessarily the way that it is being proposed right now, but I think in the long run it’s going to have to happen when Mayor Sapelli decided to step down. We have to be competitive in the market to get somebody equally as good as Mayor Sapelli in the office,” Magovern said.

Councilor Dino Mercadante said, “I’m only concerned, as all our councilors up here are, with the citizens of Agawam.”

With a vote of two yes and eight no, Sapelli’s salary will not see a 30 percent increase.

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