EudoraNews.com

City leaders are hoping a new pay scale will help Eudora attract and retain quality employees.

The Eudora City Council approved last month a new pay scale framework, and city leaders met Wednesday to hammer out details of wage adjustments. The new framework will take effect next year.

Competitive wages would help Eudora attract and retain good workers, City Administrator Mike Yanez told the Council at last month's meeting. He said a new pay scale and wage adjustments wouldn't provide an immediate change, but they were a start.

Council member Tom Pyle said it wasn't fair to expect Eudora to keep its wages on par with neighbors like Lawrence and cities in Kansas City's suburbs. Pyle said those larger cities could afford to offer better wages than Eudora.

Despite the size discrepancy, Mayor Ron Conner said it was necessary for Eudora to look at wages in larger nearby cities. Even though Eudora was a small town, Kansas Highway 10 made it easy for the same pool of workers to travel a little farther for higher wages.

At last month's meeting, fellow Council member Scott Hopson also raised the issue of across-the-board raises. He said raises should consider job performance and those city workers who were capable of handling several different responsibilities.

"That's the backbone of our workforce," Hopson said.