Des Plaines clerk's hours, pay slashed

The next Des Plaines City Clerk will be paid one-tenth of what the current one is and the position will be part time instead of full time, the city council decided Monday night in a 5-3 vote.

Incumbent Clerk Donna McAllister, who has held the position for 26 years but who must leave the office next spring due to term limits that were adopted by referendum nine years ago, strongly opposed the move.

McAllister, a beloved presence in city government, said she hates to see the position downgraded to what likely will be a figurehead position.

"I think you're taking a way a great service for the residents," she said. "This is a city of 60,000. This is Des Plaines - let us be different. Let us keep the position of city clerk."

But several aldermen, while praising McAllister's accomplishments, said that they couldn't justify paying $60,000 to a newcomer to the job who would come in with no background and have to leave office after a few years. They pointed to the referendum on term limits, and to a later one in which voters declined to make the city clerk an appointed position rather than an elected one - a switch McAllister unsuccessfully championed after term limits were adopted.

"The post will never to the same; the office will never be the same," said Sixth Ward Alderman Mark Walsten.

McAllister said that at $47,000 - the salary a newcomer to her office would get - the job would attract applicants of a different caliber and commitment than at a salary of $60,000.

But First Ward Alderman Patricia Beauvais pointed out her job only pays $3,000 and still attracts good people.

"I put a lot into my job, too," she said.

"It is done out of a love of the city; it certainly is not for the compensation," said Fourth Ward Alderman Jean Higgason.

City Manager Jason Bajor said that current staff in the clerk's office could handle the workload that would come from making the job part-time. Deputy Clerk Nancy Peterson has the training and expertise to step into the role, he said. The council will have to take a final vote on the change at its Nov. 3 meeting.