BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Jimmy Crosby’s service as Starke’s chief administrative officer received stellar reviews from city commissioners and a generous 20% pay raise.
From a salary set at $90,000 when he signed his employment contract last September, plus the 5% raise given to all employees in October, the latest increase brings his annual pay to $113,000.
Commissioners justified the amount as not only deserved. They said the city’s salaries must be competitive with other municipalities.
The instrument prepared by the city’s legal counsel included five categories for evaluation: communication with the commission, community relations, leadership ability, chief administrative officerial effectiveness, and personal and professional traits.
Overall, Crosby exceeded expectations for four commissioners and was meeting the expectations of the fifth. All commissioners agreed he exceeded their expectations for communication with them and his effectiveness at managing his office. Pay raises recommended ranged from 7% to 20%. While his contract included post-evaluation raises of up to 10%, most commissioners agreed Crosby had earned 10% or more.
According to attorney Danielle Adams, Crosby’s salary prior to the raise was $30,000 to $50,000 less than the average salary paid for that position in other cities. Commissioners based their decision in part on this comparison.
Commissioner Scott Roberts said the salaries for the city’s administrative positions need to be moving in this direction. Even adding 10% on top of the 10% contractual amount doesn’t come close enough to where it should be, he said.
Roberts said Crosby and had also earned more compensation through his performance, exceeding expectations across the board, including his role in obtaining millions of dollars to fund local projects.
Commissioner Janice Mortimer agreed completely, saying an even higher amount would be justified just in exchange for the turnaround experienced in the city’s finance department.
“Our finance department was in such a miserable state that we as a board, decision making people, we didn’t know what our financial status was,” she said.
Mortimer said Crosby was deserving, and while she didn’t anticipate he would be seeking employment elsewhere, she and other commissioners agreed that moving toward a higher salary will help recruit and maintain highly skilled managers in the future. Mayor Andy Redding said it costs more to repeatedly change employees than it does to retain them.
In just the last year, Crosby resigned as city clerk and was hired back as the city’s operations director working for the city manager. Then the commission split their duties, placing Crosby under contract to serve as chief administrative officer while Drew Mullins was named general manager for public works.
The decision to support the raise was unanimous, although Commissioner Danny Nugent was absent.
Mullins previews year ahead
Commissioner Bob Milner asked about Mullins salary as well, but commissioners did not evaluate him at the same time. Need was expressed to do so.
Mullins discussed some of his goals for 2025. GIS mapping of city infrastructure will begin during the first quarter of the year. To aid in mapping the natural gas utility lines, the city is reapplying for a technical assistance grant, which will also supply leak detection equipment, he said. Marketing of the gas utility will begin this year as well.
Mullins’ office is also preparing a grant application for rural energy improvements that would provide system upgrades, including electric metering and storm hardening. They are also working with the city’s engineers for grants to move those on septic systems to the city’s sewer system.
