For decades, Astoria city councilors have received $60 a month — the mayor, $100 a month — for the work they do to keep the city humming.

Now a committee has come up with some new — higher — numbers.

The recommendation comes after a majority of Astoria voters approved an adjustment to the city’s policy on compensation for the mayor and city council during the general election in November. One goal of the change was to open the door for a pay increase and to help ensure that financial considerations were not a barrier for any Astorian interested in running for a council seat.

On Monday, a group of nonelected budget committee members voted unanimously to recommend that Astoria Mayor Sean Fitzpatrick receive $600 a month for his work as mayor and that city councilors Andy Davis, Andrea Mazzarella, Elisabeth Adams and Vance Lump each receive $500 a month. The ad hoc budget committee included David Oser, Gilbert Ramil, Linda Moreland and Mimi Rose. Rose ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the city council in November.

Astoria City Manager Scott Spence estimated that the city councilors and mayor put in between 15 to 20 hours of work a week in their roles, depending on what issues are in front of them at public meetings and hearings, and depending on their availability to attend events. Spence said the mayor is typically at the higher end of that range.

The committee that discussed the issue of compensation last summer and made recommendations on the measure sent to voters agreed that raising the compensation could make the elected positions more accessible.

They noted that the low compensation in place for at least the last 30 years could be a barrier for some people who might otherwise be interested in running for seats on the council.

Mazzarella, who won a seat on the city council in November, was a member of the ad hoc compensation review committee last year. She made a case for compensation during her campaign.

“I would have ran for City Council or other public offices 10 or 15 years ago if I could have afforded to then, but I was working two or three jobs,” she said in an interview with The Astorian last September.

“So I think that’s a big part of it, is just making it not something you’re going to get rich doing,” she added, “but making the compensation at least something that if I’m going to do 20 hours of work a week, that anyone that’s in the working class can do that and participate without being homeless because they can’t afford to volunteer for 20 hours a week.”

The $600 and $500 a month figures discussed at Monday’s meeting had been floated by the ad hoc committee last summer.

“The idea is that the mayor and the members of the city council do real work and that there should be some compensation to them for that work, for the time they spend,” Oser said Monday, “and also to make sure no one is necessarily discouraged from running for office simply for financial reasons.”

But, he added, the compensation shouldn’t be so large that people are encouraged to run for office purely for financial reasons.

The group’s recommendation will go to the full budget committee for consideration. That committee includes the Astoria City Council. The amounts will apply for the current year and will need to be revisited by the unelected members of the city’s budget committee next year.

This story is part of a collaboration between The Astorian and Coast Community Radio.