Vienna Town Council Raises Its Salaries, Sets 2023 Priorities

VIENNA, VA — Vienna Town Council voted 4-3 Monday to raise salaries for the mayor and Town Council members for the new term following 2023 elections and 4-3 to adopt four priorities for the year.

The new salaries will be $11,250 for mayor and $7,500 for Town Council members, effective Jan. 1, 2024. The current salaries are $7,500 for mayor and $5,000 for Town Council members.

Councilmember Ed Somers introduced the motions, calling the 50 percent increases over current salaries "fair and adequate."

"One thing this council prides itself on is being fiscally responsible and setting priorities," said Somers. "The reason I am making this motion is I believe the numbers I am proposing are below what the staff recommendation collectively would have been for Town Council and mayor."

Somers, Mayor Linda Colbert and Councilmembers Chuck Anderson and Steve Potter voted in favor of the motion. Councilmembers Ray Brill, Nisha Patel and Howard Springsteen voted against.

Changes in Virginia election law mean Town of Vienna elections will now be held in November rather than May. On Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, the mayor and all Town Council seats will be up for election.

2023 Priorities

Town Council voted 4-3 to adopt four priorities for 2023. The priorities, introduced by Brill, are: completing the Vienna Code Create (update of the town code), complete the parks master plan (including uses for the former Vienna Baptist Church property purchased by the town), protecting and increasing the town's tree canopy, and reviewing and revising the noise ordinance.

"It makes us operate more efficiently. It tells the council, the staff what we're focusing on and how they should spend their energies to solve these problems," said Brill. "It does not mean in any way, shape or form that we don't deal with other issues, but these are the priority ones. The budget process is separate from this."

Colbert noted at a December Town Council conference session, there wasn't a majority supporting making the issues a priority aside from unanimous support for Code Create completion.

A motion by Patel to delay the vote on the top four priorities until a public hearing is held failed 3-4. In comments to the council, Patel said the priorities list may not include priorities that town residents may want, using traffic issues as one potential example.

An amendment by Somers to set the completion of Code Create Vienna as the only priority in 2023 also failed with a 3-4 vote.

Anderson, who voted in favor of the four priorities, said the motion doesn't preclude other issues that Town Council could address during the year.

Brill, Anderson, Potter, and Springsteen voted in favor of setting the four priorities while Colbert, Patel and Somers voted against.

Town Council's Monday meeting was followed by a conference session on Code Create.