Two new city positions, each with a six figure salary, will soon be coming to Fairhope, as the city council unanimously approved the jobs asked for by Mayor Karin Wilson. Wilson came to the council asking for an operations director and an economic and community development director, each with a salary range between $114,868 and $183,791. Wilson said she had worked on the job descriptions for some time and she felt confident bringing the jobs to the council to approve as something that would be positive for the city. “I gave you a strategic plan before I took office,” Wilson said. “I believe we do have the right people in place to accomplish this plan, and I want to hire them to be able to accomplish that goal.” Wilson said the new positions would eventually become “net neutral” from a budget standpoint, and said she hoped the council would agree to the positions rather than her having to possibly cut current city staff members in order to make the hires. “The alternative is that I would have to replace people, and I would have to do that,” Wilson said. Wilson said she didn’t want to have to go to that alternative measure if she could help it. “I could have come in to our supervisors and say I’m going to bring in my own people,” Wilson said. “I want utilize every employee we have now and hire more - that is my goal because we are going to grow the economic development department.” Several council members questioned the potential hires during both the work session and council meeting, as Council President Jack Burrell said the salary range for both positions seemed to be inflated. “I have a concern because we’ve never had people in the city who have made this kind of money before,” Burrell said. Wilson said that the savings the city would see and the increased efficiency in the departments being supervised would more than likely offset the costs and possibly gain the city some money. “Not having a plan and not having comprehensive growth is going to cost us way more than these salaries,” Wilson said. Councilman Jay Robinson said the salary range was a concern for him as well, but said in the operations director position, the numbers made more sense. “I can see a lot easier way in getting the operations director set up,” Robinson said. “I know we don’t currently have a utilities director. We did have a superintendent there that retired and has not been replaced, so that salary is there now. But as someone who was elected to be responsible for the city’s money, I feel like I have to ask these questions.” The council also questioned members of the city’s personnel board during the meeting about the salary range, who expressed some concerns about the size of the salary range for the positions presented. “That sounds like there’s too big a spread in there before it maxes,” board member Diane Thomas said. “We don’t have the information tonight to figure that out tonight. I think that’s a much bigger spread than any of our other ranges, so we would just need to check that.” Wilson pushed the council to move forward on the vote that night despite those concerns. “I need it voted on tonight,” Wilson said. “We have to get that done. The other option is that I will hire them under my administration team. It is under my authority tomorrow to hire them under my administration team. Regardless, I’m hiring them because I have to.” The council approved the new positions 4-0, as Councilman Kevin Boone was absent from the meeting. The newly created jobs will have to be publicly posted for at least three days, but Wilson indicated she already had people in mind to fill the positions. A city council member confirmed to The Courier Sherry-Lee Bloodworth Botop would likely be the candidate proposed for the economic and community development position. The mayor’s preferred candidate for the operations director position has not yet been confirmed.