MANCHESTER — Welfare Department Commissioner Paul Martineau was a no-show at an aldermen’s hearing Tuesday concerning the level of his compensation.

Martineau is the only elected official in the city who enjoys regular pay raises under the city’s Yarger Decker pay scale. He now earns $113,000, far more than other elected officials, including the mayor.

Human Resources Manager Jane Gile presented a report to the committee that noted there were contradictory ordinances concerning whether the welfare commissioner position was supposed to be governed by the Yarger Decker scale for city employees. One ordinance explicitly exempts the position from Yarger Decker.

At the same time, the city has not set a salary for the position, Gile said.

“There is an issue here. If you’re not paying according to Yarger Decker, then what are you paying him according to? There’s nothing in the city charter that sets a salary,” she said.

The issue of Martineau’s pay — and the fact that the amount his department spends on payroll exceeds the assistance it provides — has been a central concern of Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur.

“He is the poster child for the failure of the system. The host is being eaten by the cannibal,” Levasseur said, adding, “This is fiscal abuse. A man gets merit increases 11 times and only got three evaluations.”

As a department head, Martineau can only be evaluated by the mayor. If the evaluations do not happen in a timely manner, the raises are instituted automatically.

Not everyone on the committee shared Levasseur’s sense of outrage.

“Shame on all of us if we missed something that shouldn’t have happened,” Alderman Ron Ludwig said. “But I don’t think it’s the fault of the person with this position. I suppose he could have come forward and said ‘I’m getting too much money.’”

The committee declined to vote on a motion from Levasseur to set the salary for the welfare commissioner at $40,000. Instead, it directed the city solicitor’s office to examine the conflicting ordinances concerning the position.

Meter enforcement

In other business Tuesday, the Committee on Public Safety voted to extend the hours of meter enforcement downtown during special events, ending the policy of charging a flat fee of $1 for parking.

The change, proposed by Parking Manager Denise Boutilier, is among several recommendations a parking consultant made in a recent report outlining ways to boost the Parking Division’s efficiency and revenue.

The policy would affect 550 spaces downtown and at the Millyard. Meter operation times at the spaces would be extended from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and they could be occupied for up to 10 hours, rather than the standard two hours.

The change is projected to bring in an additional $22,000 in revenue.

Alderman Patrick Long said he believed the change would be welcomed by event-goers.

“Every time there’s an event, we’d have these signs for event parking,” he said. “This is more consistent and more welcoming. Park where you want and just go to the kiosk for payment.”

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Ted Siefer may be reached at tsiefer@unionleader.com. Follow him on Twitter: @tbsreporter.