Challenger offers discount
Joell Ackerman, who is trying to unseat longtime City Clerk Lorrie Poyzer, is trying to attract voters by offering to work for less money than her opponent.
Ackerman said she'll do the job -which basically consists of making sure Redlands' official records are properly filed and accessible to the public and City Hall types - for $70,000 annually. That's more than $25,000 less than the $96,800 a year she said that Poyzer earns.
Poyzer confirmed that her annual pay is "in that neighborhood." She recalled that the council hiked her pay six years ago. Previously, her pay was in the $40,000s, she said.
The big-time issue in this year's City Council race is the budget. Redlands approved a balanced budget this year, but the spending plan follows five consecutive years when officials decided to allow expenditures to exceed revenues. The City Clerk doesn't get to shape budget policy, but Ackerman's campaign tactic gives her a chance to advertise herself as a fiscal conservative at a time when many voters will likely want to know how City Hall will get the spending under control.
A proposed sales tax hike was rejected during the summer after a city-commissioned poll found that voters were not inclined to shell out additional dollars at Redlands cash registers to balance the city budget. The same survey reported that about 43 percent of Redlanders think the city has enough money.
Poyzer dismissed Ackerman's move as by saying "they need free ink in the newspapers." The "they" in that sentence would also refer to City Council candidate Henry Nickel, who is running a tag-team candidacy with Ackerman.