Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak is responding to recent reports that her wife, a fellow city employee, received a salary increase just weeks before more than two dozen city positions were cut.Mulvaney-Stanak’s wife, Megan Moir, is the city’s Director of Water Resources. She is set to receive a $16,162 salary raise this year. That means her salary will increase from $124,681 to $140,843. While the mayor recused herself from the vote that ultimately approved the raise, the announcement has created controversy among some in the city, as the decision was made just weeks before the mayor announced she would be cutting 25 municipal positions, leading to 18 layoffs. Moir’s position falls under the management of Chapin Spencer, director of Burlington’s Public Works Department. Spencer said he’s been advocating for Moir, as well as the division director of Parking and Traffic, Technical Services and the Maintenance division all to receive a raise, including retroactive pay back to Dec. 9, 2024, which is before Mulvaney-Stanak took office.In a petition to city council, Chapin said “In periodic review of comparable professional positions, was seeing discrepancies between pay scales and what other peer New England communities were offering utilities.”Chapin also said that a lack of competitive pay has resulted in high turnover rates among these positions. Now, that Burlington has adopted Market Factor Policy, a policy regarding compensation adjustments for a variety of factors including job structure and performance, it is working to ensure all city leaders receive fair pay in comparison to their counterparts across the country. The mayor said the city adopted this policy well before ite made reclassifications. “And then when it got to these reclassifications, there were multiple division heads who were part of a reclassification decision, I made it clear about recusing myself from any step of that process,” she said. On April 14, both city council and the Board of Finance approved raises for Moir and for the division director of technical services, who manages projects including Champlain Parkway, Great Streets, Main Street and more.Even with the pay raise, Spencer said Moir’s salary still falls below the lowest national average for her position.
Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak is responding to recent reports that her wife, a fellow city employee, received a salary increase just weeks before more than two dozen city positions were cut.
Mulvaney-Stanak’s wife, Megan Moir, is the city’s Director of Water Resources. She is set to receive a $16,162 salary raise this year. That means her salary will increase from $124,681 to $140,843.
Advertisement
While the mayor recused herself from the vote that ultimately approved the raise, the announcement has created controversy among some in the city, as the decision was made just weeks before the mayor announced she would be cutting 25 municipal positions, leading to 18 layoffs.
Moir’s position falls under the management of Chapin Spencer, director of Burlington’s Public Works Department. Spencer said he’s been advocating for Moir, as well as the division director of Parking and Traffic, Technical Services and the Maintenance division all to receive a raise, including retroactive pay back to Dec. 9, 2024, which is before Mulvaney-Stanak took office.
In a petition to city council, Chapin said “In [his] periodic review of comparable professional positions, [he] was seeing discrepancies between [Burlington’s] pay scales and what other peer New England communities were offering utilities.”
Chapin also said that a lack of competitive pay has resulted in high turnover rates among these positions.
Now, that Burlington has adopted Market Factor Policy, a policy regarding compensation adjustments for a variety of factors including job structure and performance, it is working to ensure all city leaders receive fair pay in comparison to their counterparts across the country.
The mayor said the city adopted this policy well before ite made reclassifications.
“And then when it got to these reclassifications, there were multiple division heads who were part of a reclassification decision, I made it clear about recusing myself from any step of that process,” she said.
On April 14, both city council and the Board of Finance approved raises for Moir and for the division director of technical services, who manages projects including Champlain Parkway, Great Streets, Main Street and more.
Even with the pay raise, Spencer said Moir’s salary still falls below the lowest national average for her position.
