When Boca Raton’s elected officials earn as little as around $28 k for council members and $38 k for the mayor, it’s a recipe for distraction and inefficiency, especially given the immense economic and administrative responsibilities the roles carry. It doesn’t take much to understand why elected officials should be paid more, why we Boca residents NEED them to be paid more.
Let me explain:
I don’t make any money publishing this website. It’s a substantial cost for me to do so. I can afford it because I have a real job. I’ve worked in the staffing and recruiting industry for decades. That’s my jam, building tech around that stuff. I am familiar with the compensation levels required to get qualified talent matched with the unique challenges of key roles in 2025. Just like a farmer stares at corn all day I stare most of the day at Job Postings. So I have an understanding of what people are getting paid for their skills.
It’s always puzzled me why we ask elected officials to be in a position of either financially bleeding themselves selflessly or being corrupt. Then on top of that we ask them to also be capable. The math never worked for me, to expect good and honest politicians, at least in Boca. My wife would certainly question why I was giving so much of my time to others without it compensating her fairly if I tried to do it. If she tried to do it I’d feel the same: her time is worth far more to me than to have her run for office.
Why Higher Compensation Matters — Ethically and Practically
- Prevents Distractions: When pay is livable and respectable, officials can focus entirely on civic service, not juggling other jobs or seeking undue favors.
- Promotes Integrity: A full-time salary reduces susceptibility to corruption or accepting favors from vested interests.
- Attracts Talent: Skilled professionals can’t afford to serve for purely civic-minded reasons without fair compensation—especially with high living costs.
- Signals Respect: Paying well demonstrates community respect for the role and encourages broader candidate diversity.
Former Mayor Susan Haynie was arrested in 2018 and in 2021 pled guilty to two misdemeanors tied to votes that benefited Boca’s largest commercial landowners . Felony counts were dropped as part of the plea, but this episode clearly illustrates risk around development influence. Now in 2025 thousands of residents have recently signed petitions and publicly opposed large downtown projects, reflecting intense public skepticism about growth decisions.
There’s good evidence that paying politicians more improves selection and performance and can reduce corruption via “efficiency wages,” especially at the local level. But pay alone isn’t enough; it should come with guardrails.
Based on an analysis of what it would take for the proper decision making capabilities, the administrative, legal and economic skill sets required alone, its possible to estimate a pay range for compensating a candidate that’s only moderately competitive:
If you want truly dedicated, full-time leadership with minimal susceptibility to outside rewards, I’d target:
Mayor: $160k–$200k
Council members: $95k–$130k
Why those higher than current salary numbers for elected Boca officials?
THESE ARE NOT “PART TIME” DECISIONS BEING MADE. THESE ARE BIG STAKES.
It’s ludicrous to pay these people a tiny amount like we do. The consequences of their decisions are not about flipping burgers. It has nothing to do with expecting them to also have day jobs. What they decide on are BIG STAKES DECISIONS. They have the biggest consequences in Boca, yet we’re playing some weird game of seeing how self-sacrificing and noble our best people can be. Why don’t we just build a pyramid and ask them to give themselves to the rain-god too?
OTHER CITIES ARE INSTEAD ATTRACTING BETTER PEOPLE
These compensation levels are well above current Boca levels and comfortably above Fort Lauderdale’s elected comp, reflecting Boca’s outsized development stakes and public trust deficit.
Do we want to be like Fort Lauderdale?
No?
Are we ready to pay more to keep that from happening?
It better be “yes” if we are serious.
These modest levels put electeds closer to other top local public officials (e.g., County Administrator approved at $425k in 2025) and acknowledge Boca’s management scale. Boca’s former City Manager’s recent reported pay reached the $300k–$590k range depending on the year and accounting. The new manager’s salary is $290,000.
If we just raised the council and mayor salaries to what I recommend we’d still keep a large gap to management, but the delta wouldn’t be so extreme that electeds feel “part-time” relative to the stakes.
So here’s some guardrails that might make it easier for residents to accept paying our best people more:
- Full-time status + outside income limits
Prohibit paid outside employment and paid board roles during service; require quarterly public disclosure of any passive income. (NY used a similar approach for legislators—raising pay while capping outside income—to focus officials on public duties.) - Tighten recusal & disclosure on development
Mandate ex-parte meeting logs with applicants; 12-month look-back & look-forward recusal windows for votes affecting entities with whom officials or immediate family have financial ties. (The Haynie case shows why “technical” disclosure isn’t enough.) - Lobbying transparency & access limits
Boca already uses the Palm Beach County lobbyist registration regime; require calendar-level disclosure of lobbyist contacts and post those logs monthly. - Post-service cooling-off period
Extend the local “revolving door” ban (e.g., 2 years from leaving office before lobbying City staff/Council or representing development applicants). (County OIG and Ethics infrastructure already exist—lean into them.) - Independent ethics counsel & random audits
Fund an independent ethics counsel (separate from City Attorney) to pre-clear conflicts; schedule random audits of gift reports, calendars, and recusal compliance via the Palm Beach County OIG.
If you can think of more guardrails or stipulations then please comment below.
I can’t be the only person who is wondering how this is all supposed to work without paying who we ask to make the best decisions for us, better. How can they make us first, the residents, the actual stakeholders, without us paying so much over the table there’s no temptation to dip beneath? We get what we pay for.
Leave your thoughts below.
