Starkville’s Board of Aldermen approved Tuesday to increase the salaries of city employees by three percent effective Oct. 1, 2015 in a 4-3 vote.
Aldermen Ben Carver, Lisa Wynn, Roy Perkins and Henry Vaughn, Sr. voted in favor of the pay increase while David Little, Jason Walker and Scott Maynard voted against the proposal.
Walker said he wants to focus on salary compression issues before moving forward with the pay increase.
“I think we can find a way to improve (the city employee’s) situation and make it better. I do not think that a three-percent raise across the board is necessarily the answer,” Walker said.
The original proposal included raising the board’s salary from $15,000 to $20,000 per year, excluding Mayor Parker Wiseman. This pay raise would not affect current board members and would have taken effect for the next elected officials July 1, 2017. 
Ward 2 Alderman Wynn said she is passionate about the pay raise for both city employees as well as the Board of Aldermen.
Wiseman said he fully supports a pay raise for city employees, but opposed the decision to increase the board’s salary, without including the mayor, with such a substantial difference between the board and the city employees’ salaries.
“We have said that our ability to provide anything above a three percent pay raise for our city employees is nonexistent or unlikely through the end of this term,” Wiseman said. “If that is the case, and it is the case, locking in a 33 percent pay increase for elected officials I believe sets a bad standard.”
Ward 3 Alderman Little made a motion to remove the Board of Aldermen pay increase from the proposal which passed in a 6-1 vote, Alderman Walker voting against the motion.
Wynn said as a response to Wiseman that she was not satisfied with the behavior of Wiseman as mayor and would not support a pay raise for him. 
“I cannot, as an Alderman for our city, support a pay increase for a mayor who is clearly disengaged from city-related matters in his role as mayor,” Wynn said.
Wynn cited several occurrences when she said Wiseman was out of his office for extended periods of time during operational hours of the city and a specific occurrence during the month of December when he was out of office for a period of 19 days.
Wiseman said during the months of November and December he attended several conferences and speaking engagements, one of which he attended with Alderman Wynn. 
Wynn  said  she also believes Wiseman also attended the Orange Bowl where Mississippi State University’s football team played against Georgia Tech in December.
Wiseman said as a member of the official party and a representative of Starkville, he interacted with many dignitaries of the Orange Bowl and the city of Miami.
Wynn said she thought Wiseman might be using his city-issued vehicle for non-city related business such as commuting to his part time job at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, where Wiseman teaches a class two days a week.
Wiseman said he had his personal car serviced when he was offered the job at MUW so that he could drive back and forth without needing to use his city-issued Crown Victoria.
“I assure you I know what the law is, and I honor it,” Wiseman said.
Wynn said she had heard him refer to his position as mayor as a part-time job, and said she believed as the mayor was disengaged from his duties to the city of Starkville.
Wiseman said these were wild accusations and in response to the allegations against him gave a list of many improvements made during his time as mayor such as a comprehensive transit system, a new conference center and the upcoming groundbreaking for the new industrial park. 
“These are the things I work on. This is what my life’s work has been for these past six years, and I assure you that it is much more than a 40-hour a week responsibility,” Wiseman said.