By Denise Dunbar | ddunbar@alextimes.com

A series of texts and emails from June 5, received in a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal that City Council only decided to consider raising its own salary prior to the Democratic primary after Vice Mayor Amy Jackson insisted on the change in her meeting with City Manager Jim Parajon that morning. Consideration of the pay raise had been docketed for June 25, one week after the Democratic primary.

A June 5 email from Parajon’s Chief of Staff Sermaine McLean to City Attorney Cheran Ivery, on which Parajon is copied at 3:39 p.m., is titled RE: 6/25 Draft Docket Items. It lays out the changed schedule for considering a Council and mayoral pay raise.

“Hi Cheran, We are working on changing the dates. This is now being moved to the June 11 docket and will need to be on June 15 Public Hearing as it relates to the Council Salary Memo. Will you be able to review the ordinance today. …”

Jackson, who is one of three candidates vying to replace Mayor Justin Wilson as Alexandria’s mayor, said in an interview on June 5 that Parajon told her that morning, in their 10 a.m. meeting, that the issue wasn’t going to be docketed until after the June 18 Democratic primary.

Jackson, who said she pushed back against this decision, told Parajon she was going public with this information in an attempt to get the matter docketed by the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline for it to be considered before the election. Jackson said Parajon told her that he did not have the authority to unilaterally decide when an item is to be docketed, but that he would survey members of Council.

Texts received Monday in the FOIA request show that Parajon reached out to Wilson and also texted members of Council about moving consideration of the pay raise from June 25 to June 11 – and that this was done in response to Jackson’s insistence.

“Mayor, I hate to disturb you but I had my one on one with vice mayor and let her know the 25th meeting had the council salary memo on it and she vehemently argued that it has to be the 11th meeting before the primary. Since today I need to finalize the agenda I need some direction from the council. I think Amy said she was going to email the rest of council about the 11th. Sorry,” Parajon said in his text to Wilson, which said Wednesday at the top.

Wilson responded saying he had already heard from Jackson.

“She just texted me. I’m fine with the 11th if a majority is comfortable …” Wilson said in his texted response to Parajon.

Parajon then asked Wilson for advice on whether calling or texting Council was preferable. Several hours later Wilson responded saying, “I would just put it on the agenda.”

Parajon said he had polled Council and June 11 was the consensus. The city manager said Councilor John Taylor Chapman was the only councilor who preferred leaving discussion of the pay raise on the post-primary June 25 docket.

Jackson apparently texted Councilor Alyia Gaskins, who is also running for mayor, immediately following her meeting with Parajon the morning of June 5. In the 10:20 a.m. text, Jackson urged Gaskins to support moving consideration of the pay raise up to June 11, before the primary.

“June 11 is the last day we should be increasing council salary for Jan 2025. It needs to go on the docket today. This is shady if it’s after the primary. Are you willing to vote on the mayor and council salary increase on June 11?” Jackson texted Gaskins.

Gaskins responded in the affirmative.

“Yes. I agree,” Gaskins texted Jackson back.

However, in the Times June 6 article about this issue, Gaskins refuted the notion that it was Jackson’s idea to consider the pay raise prior to the primary.

“… the decision to put it on an earlier docket is something that has been discussed for days and has been settled previously,” Gaskins said in an interview with the Times on the afternoon of June 5.

Jackson dismissed Gaskins’ assertion.

“At 10 a.m., this was on the June 25th docket. It is now on the June 11 docket,” Jackson said in a texted response for the Times’ June 6 story. “I credit my advocacy for Council transparency and accountability on the matter for the change of date.”