Arizona legislator Boyer wants salary cap for city officials

PHOENIX – An Arizona legislator has said city officials shouldn’t earn more than Gov. Doug Ducey and would introduce a measure to ensure it.

Sen. Paul Boyer (R-Phoenix) said in a tweet posted this week that police and firefighters would be exempt.

Ducey makes $95,000 a year. The Council of State Governments listed only two other states that pay their governor less – Colorado ($90,000) and Maine ($70,000).

Boyer said he was prompted by a meeting with Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps. A year ago, jobs recruiting site Glassdoor estimated Phelps’ yearly salary was between $211,000-229,000.

I’ll be introducing a bill this session ensuring no city bureaucrat makes more than the Governor. I’ll be exempting our true heroes, cops and firefighters of course.

— Paul Boyer (@PaulDBoyer) September 17, 2019

Boyer and Glendale administrators have been at odds since he sponsored a bill in 2017 that ensured protection of firefighters’ health benefits if they contracted cancer on the job.

Glendale had initially denied one firefighter’s claims for workers’ compensation but then reversed the decision.

The West Valley city falls in Boyer’s district.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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