Newport councilors again discussed and then stayed with a plan to pay council members $300 a month beginning in January. (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle)By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/ Lincoln Chronicle
NEWPORT – Newport’s six city councilors and mayor will be paid a $300 monthly stipend beginning in January — and they are getting some flack for it.
Although the council approved the stipend in May and accounted for it in the 2026-27 city budget, the topic came up again at the end of a meeting this week where they discussed if they should take the issue to voters instead.
For three years, the city has contemplated how – and if it should – compensate councilors ranging from ideas of free memberships to the recreation center to providing health insurance. In 2023, the council voted to form a committee consisting of four former council members, two budget committee members and five at-large members.
The group met over several months last year and many questioned whether compensation should be provided and advocated for keeping council positions as unpaid, volunteer work. The group ended up recommending a $100 a month stipend that would be decided by voters.
During an April work session councilors directed staff to look at two options – cash stipends and insurance coverage which could have cost the city $60,000 to $178,000.
In May, city council approved the $300 stipend that would cost the city $25,200 a year. The intention was to attract younger people and less affluent residents because of the decline of volunteerism. In the last three election cycles council candidates have run unopposed.
Councilor Sandy Roumagoux was again the only dissenting voice, saying she believed the council should remain a group of unpaid volunteers.
The stipend would go into effect Jan. 1, after November’s election where three seats on city council and the mayor’s position are up for election.
The issue came up during Monday night’s council meeting because some of the members of the compensation committee were upset the decision deviated from their recommendation.
Mark Collson, a former mayor and the chair of the advisory committee, met with Mayor Jan Kaplan to voice his opposition and threatened to recall those who voted for the stipend. Collson also said he would organize opposition to a $38 million infrastructure bond the city plans to put on the November ballot if the council did not take the stipend issue to the voters instead, Kaplan said Monday.
Kaplan“When can ask people for advice – and it was a serious attempt and a lot of work went into it – but we’re not bound by that advice,” Kaplan said. “We value that advice but we ultimately have to take responsibility for decisions we make. I think we all need to weigh in on this, but I would advocate to just hold the course.”
Roumagoux said she worried about the bond and had received some negative feedback on the pay.
Councilor Steve Hickman suggested that the stipend be only available to councilors after they have been elected or re-elected. The council didn’t take the recommendation because they didn’t feel like it adequately addressed the issue of getting a diverse pool of people interested in joining city council, Hickman said.
“We weren’t doing this for us; we were doing this for the future of this council,” Hickman said.
Councilors also have the option to turn down the stipend when it takes effect in January, said Angel Apraicio-Reyes, adding that he plans to refuse the money but wants a stipend to be in place to encourage more people to run for the council.
“If we’re concerned about the bond, frankly, the longer this stays alive, of us debating and being wishy-washy on it, you know I feel that’s more jeopardizing than the people who aren’t going to like it no matter what.”
In the end, councilors decided to stick with its decision from May without putting it to the voters.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]
This should bother every tax payer in Lincoln County. These people were elected to serve Newport with no payment attached to the job. Now they have violated that and have given themselves, without a vote of the people, a substantial stipend. This is not lawful and all should be removed.
They voted themselves a stipend and then sent a letter to other cities asking for contributions to fight the ICE lawsuit because they needed the money.
Huge disconnect.
I agree with Collson, as a former mayor 1995 to 2005, I don’t believe that a council needs to be paid, especially since the majority are all retirees. I am also against the $38 million bond measure, until the city is better managed and actually works five days a week. The council doesn’t deserve a paycheck when they file frivolous lawsuits against the federal government costing Newport taxpayers $500,000 of unbudgeted funds.
You’re missing the point. The fact the council members are mostly retirees is why they need to be paid: to attract younger working people with families who need an incentive to spend the time. Contrary to most folks commenting, I believe $300 a month is completely reasonable for people who spend a lot of time working for their city.
I’m not at all fond of some things the city does, including slapping parking fees on the Bayfront and Nye Beach, and the ridiculous traffic couplet plan through the Deco district on 101. But I sense that a lot of the griping and moaning here comes from the same folks who gripe and moan about the county.
Oh, and I’m glad the city city sued to stop the detention center. And I believe a vast majority of Newport citizens are too though I do not live in the city.
There seems to be an assumption that all retirees who reside in Newport are prosperous, I doubt that, given that the 65+ population is one of the fastest growing unhoused populations. Even so, I think the pay issue should’ve been presented to the voters to decide, otherwise it seems like self-dealing and a conflict of interest.
Newport plays politics first and cares nothing about its people. Damaged dams, massive loss of jobs but they don’t miss a beat blowing the entire contingency budget. A 3 percent raise and an increase of 15% in cost of benefits, so back you go to the people to attempt to milk them again. Many of your residents will lose their house if you continue to jack their property taxes instead of tightening your belts after all you already receive an extra 3 percent a year on property taxes as it is. Time to get a new mayor and new council people without all the drama.
Did council members declare any conflict of interest before discussing the issue at the July 20 regular meeting?
Under recent state law in 2025 (SB 983), council members are allowed to declare an actual conflict of interest and discuss/vote on the issue if it’s part of an official action to adopt the city budget. But that wasn’t the case at the July 20 regular meeting, in which the issue was discussed under the agenda item for reports from mayor/council.
And, what about the April 20 work session and May 4 regular meeting, in which the issue was also discussed/voted on separate from an official action to adopt the city budget? Was the appropriate conflict of interest declared during those meetings as well?
After taking a look into this further, it appears as if no conflict of interest was declared at the July 20 regular meeting, in which the council stipend was discussed; a potential conflict of interest was declared at the May 4 regular meeting, in which the council discussed/voted on and approved a council stipend; and no conflict of interest was declared at the April 20 work session, in which the issue of a council stipend was discussed. Council members did, however, declare an actual conflict of interest before taking official action to adopt the city budget at the June 15 regular meeting, which included the council stipend.
Whether the state law requirement for declaring a conflict of interest was complied with during all or only some of those meetings is a separate issue.
We are in favor of a stipend for the Newport City Council members. They do a lot of work outside of the meetings. The Lincoln County Commisioners make $90,000 per year in salary. Why is it so controverisal to give our city councilors a $300 per month stipend? Some special districts, (fire, water, utilities, etc.) give their board members a small stipend for mileage and incidentals. What they are asking for, is more than reasonable. We do not need to recall them or hold up vital funding for something so trivial.