Is being on the Rochester City Council a full-time job? Candidates weigh in

ROCHESTER — How much time it takes to be a Rochester City Council member is up for debate in two of four races on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Ward 5 council member Shaun Palmer , who is seeking to be elected into the council president seat, has frequently said he doesn't believe being a council member is a full-time position.

"This is service," he said. "It's not a job."

He said he frequently spends up to 15 hours a week as an active council member, stating meeting requirements average less than five hours a week and the rest of the time is used addressing constituent questions and concerns.

Taking on the citywide presiding officer role, which carriess an annual income of $64,200, compared to $55,800 received by other council members, would likely add to the workload, with anticipated added meetings between council sessions to discuss policy issues and options.

"I see the council president differently than (current Council President) Brooke (Carlson) does," he said. "I see it as working together with the different members to get a policy."

Still, he said the work still won't require 40 hours a week, and he plans to continue the sales position he moved into after resigning as a city building inspector to be elected to the council in 2018.

His opponent for the council president seat, Randy Schubring , has taken leave from his job as Mayo Clinic community relations director for the election and plans to retire in November, if elected.

"When it comes to the council president, I do think you need to focus on it full-time," he said. "I think it's important that the council president really looks to make sure that we are getting the civic engagement that we need from the citizens and really staying focused on that."

Like Palmer, he said he sees part of the role as actively working with other council members to identify policy goals and work toward solutions when differences arise.

He also expects the job will entail efforts to attend community meetings and events to ensure he's approachable and can hear from residents, while also helping them understand the nuances of local government.

"Too often we see where our residents are forced to navigate the bureaucracy of the city administration, and I think council members have an obligation to help the citizens with that," he said, adding that maintaining consistent communication with the city administrator and city attorney are part of the effort.

The debate on how much time is required to meet the needs of an elected city position isn't new. The city's home-rule charter, which set a variety of definitions for city operations, doesn't specifically define Rochester's elected positions as full- or part-time, but candidates and others have provided their own definitions in recent years.

In Ward 4, Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick , the only incumbent on the Nov. 5 ballot seeking re-election to same seat this year, said the time required as a council member can depend on experience.

"It certainly was (full-time) when I started," she said of her first term in 2021, after being elected to the ward stretching east from the city's downtown core. "Despite interning with council member (Mark) Builderback with one of my graduate courses, I still had a huge learning curve that took about a year and a half, and I was devoting 70 to 80 hours a week to the job."

Nearly four years later, she said everything has "clicked" and the routine duties of a council member take less time, but circumstances can still take time away from her business as a landscape designer and urban farmer.

"Sometimes it's a full-time job," she said of being a council member. "Sometimes it is not."

Her challenger, Andy Friederichs , said he anticipates the council member role will pair well with the work he's already doing as a barber and property developer.

"I talk to a lot of people every day and I have the ability to hear from the front row what's going on in the general population, not just a certain circle," he said, pointing out constituents will have the ability to reach him at his business, Workshop Barbers, but he will also have the opportunity to engage with customers who bring a variety of views.

While he doesn't consider a council member's time at City Hall and in official meetings to be a full-time job, he said the community involvement can be.

"I don't think it's five days a week," he said. "I think it's seven days."

The divide in how the role is seen is greater in Ward 2, where first-time candidates Nick Miller and Tripp Welch anticipate different approaches to serving the ward that stretches west from Rochester's downtown core.

Miller has resigned his job as a financial and data analyst to run for the council seat and doesn't plan to seek another job, if elected. He said he sees the council member role as largely full time, with added responsibilities amid city growth.

"More and more people are coming here and have everyday needs and issues or policy considerations that are impacting their everyday lives, and I think largely the expanded role of a council member, is that of being a representative for the people of your ward," he said, adding that beyond policy decisions the role requires elected officials to help interpret city policy for residents and provide a bridge to connect constituents to city staff.

Welch agreed council members need to be able to engage with the residents they represent, but he said it doesn't necessarily require 40 hours a week. He plans to continue his work as Mayo Clinic's administrator for the Program in Professionalism and Values, a role he said will provide him flexibility to take on council duties.

He said considering the role of a council member as a full-time job could raise questions about motivation.

"When you move it to a full-time job, you move the motivation from intrinsic to extrinsic like I'm motivated to do this because I care," he said, adding: "When you make it into a full-time job, then it becomes all about extrinsic motivation – I'm trying to keep my job. I'm trying to progress so I might be drawn into other things."

He said maintaining the position as a part-time job puts the emphasis on service to the community, which he believes is a primary motivator for most council members and candidates.

"There is no shortage of people willing to do it at a part-time level," he said. "I mean, in every race we had primaries this year, so if the argument is that we're not getting enough people interested in those types of things, I don't see that."

In Ward 6, where the incumbent has argued that the role is a full-time position, two newcomers have landed on the Nov. 5 general election ballot and say they plan to keep their full-time jobs, if elected.

Mark Schleusner , who maintained his full-time job as a Mayo Clinic lead analyst and programmer while serving on the Rochester School Board from 2017 to 2020, said he plans to do the same as a council member.

"Depending upon demand, it could be a full-time job for some point of time, but on average no." he said of the role of a council member.

Dan Doering , who is lead pastor at People of Hope, also said the time required for the elected role could fluctuate, but added his job provides flexibility, as well as insights into the community.

"I think having a voice of someone who is working with others in our community is beneficial in giving an eye and an ear to the concerns of the working public," he said.