To the Editor:
I realize that I am coming a little late to the discussion of whether council members and the mayor [of Swarthmore] should be paid, but I wanted to provide my perspective as someone who has served 16 years in unpaid elected positions.
In these jobs, the scarce resource is time, not money. The amount of money that can legally be paid can never make up for the lost time. If you are someone who feels unappreciated if you are not paid, then this is not the job for you. If you are someone who feels taken advantage of by not being paid, then this is not the job for you.
I say this as an economist who does not in any way disparage paying people for work; that’s still the best way to insure that people show up and work diligently. But if the borough has sufficient funds to pay council members, maybe it should raise the wages of the borough employees who have to live on their salaries.
Mark Kuperberg
Swarthmore