Catchy title? I can answer that question. For most, but not all, of the Mayors that I’ve served in my local government career, the answer is “probably not enough”. For the current Mayor I serve here in Eden Prairie, the answer is “definitely not enough”. The same is true for City Councilmembers.
The current annual salary of The Honorable Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Mayor of Eden Prairie, is $9,900. For Members of the City Council, the annual salary is $7,200. Both the Mayor and City Councilmembers can earn $35/meeting for Special Meetings outside of their standard City meeting schedules. The City also reimburses the Mayor and Councilmembers for reasonable expenses they incur in carrying out their official duties.
The article talks about the level of service that citizens receive from elected officials and the lower-than-expected salaries. Peterson specifically comments in the article that “Edina, Eden Prairie, and Woodbury and a host of other upscale suburbs lead the way with small-scale salaries.” Mayor Tyra-Lukens is quoted in Peterson’s article.
These are Eden Prairie’s Mayor and City Council. They are (L-R): Councilmember Brad Aho; Councilmember Phil Young; Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens; Councilmember Sherry Butcher; and Councilmember Ron Case.
Elected officials, at least the ones that I’ve had the pleasure to serve, aren’t in government for the money. There’s not enough money in local government service for them to do it as a profession. They sacrifice varying levels of their personal, work, and family lives to serve citizens. We couldn’t have responsive local government without their respective sacrifices.
