Fairfield city staff gets 2.5 percent raises

FAIRFIELD - The Fairfield City Council approved substantial raises for a handful of city employees to bring them in line with their peers in other cities.

The council approved a 2.5 percent raise Monday for city employees effective July 1 but raised the salaries of a few employees several times that percentage increase. The employees who are receiving more than a 2.5 percent raise are:

' City Administrator Aaron Kooiker (18 percent)

' Fire Chief/Code Enforcement Officer Scott Vaughan (12 percent)

' City Clerk Rebekah Loper (8.3 percent)

' Park and Rec Director Calvin Todd (7.8 percent)

' Streets Superintendent Darrel Bisgard (6.9 percent)

' Denise Estle in finance department (5 percent)

' City Engineer Melanie Carlson (5 percent)

' Dawn Travis in planning and zoning (4 percent)

' All street department employees (4 percent)

Council member Paul Gandy, chair of the Ways and Means Committee and member of the Personnel Committee, said Fairfield's salaries are lagging behind those of comparable cities, and these raises are designed to bring those positions closer in the wages seen in other towns.

'Our conclusion was that our fire chief and city administrator were significantly underpaid,” Gandy said, explaining why Kooiker and Vaughan received double-digit raises. 'We want to be competitive so we can attract potential employees and retain them.”