While it would be nice to ensure that the mayor gets an adequate salary, the role is not full-time. We are in a mayor-city manager city. While we as a city are growing, and the mayor’s office will be more of a part of that as time goes on, I would never make a decision on terms without effectively engaging my constituents to ensure we as a city believe that a 4-year term and staggering would be most beneficial. Most of the time local elected officials tend to have jobs outside of government in order to compensate for their paychecks. There’s no reason to raise the mayor’s salary when they are living comfortably enough. Especially when the burden is on the taxpayer’s dime. And adding a new district seat is generally a good idea- after all, we are one of the fastest growing cities in the country, and have to compensate for that. However, I wouldn’t change these maps until further consultation from community leaders and experts as to how to draw the lines for a new district. At the end of the day, more representation is necessary to ensure that all Raleigh residents are heard. Having an extra representative of the community at the table is something that should always be welcomed by the City Council. Having more council seats will allow for a broader amount of voter participation- and we should be seeking every avenue we can to increase that.