MO State HS Sports
Columbia city manager De'Carlon Seewood delivers his first state of the city address on June 2, 2022 at city hall (file photo courtesy of city of Columbia Facebook page)

Columbia’s city manager focusing on city employee compensation

Columbia city manager De’Carlon Seewood delivers his first state of the city address on June 2, 2022 at city hall (photo courtesy of city of Columbia Facebook page)

City employee pay and recruitment/retention are top priorities for Columbia’s city manager. De’Carlon Seewood emphasized the issue during Thursday’s state of the city address at city hall.

“We really need to look at exactly how we’re compensating our employees and let them know that they’re important for us. And that’s the only way that we’re going to get people to actually come on and join our (the city) organization,” Mr. Seewood says.

He’s proposing a four percent across-the-board pay increase for city employees, on top of the three percent approved by Columbia’s city council in May. He also says there are currently vacancies in almost every city department.

Mr. Seewood is also warning the council and residents that we’re at a critical point in the city, regarding employee pay. He says the most comprehensive city employee pay study in nine years is being done.

“If we do not address the challenges we’re facing with staffing now, we will start to see negative impacts to our services and will feel those consequences years down the road,” Seewood says.

Columbia city council members, Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, city department heads, residents and reporters attended state of the city.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *