Martinsville city councilors closed the books on their monthslong negotiations on the city manager’s pay increase.
In a 3-2 split decision, with council members Julian Mei and Aaron Rawls dissenting, the council on Tuesday approved Aretha Ferrell-Benavides’ salary increase from $183,500 to $215,000.
Figures provided by a number of Virginia localities with fewer than 50,000 residents show Martinsville isn’t the only one to compensate its top executive with more than $200,000. Among them are Danville, whose city manager is paid $273,069; Charlottesville, with a manager’s salary of $259,563; and Manassas Park, whose city manager receives $220,375.
Both Charlottesville and Danville have populations more than three times larger than Martinsville’s 13,763 residents: 44,983 and 41,837, respectively.
Median household incomes in Danville and Charlottesville are $42,778 and $69,829, respectively, according to census data. In Martinsville, the median household income is $42,434.
Manassas Park has 16,361 residents, making its population closer in size to Martinsville, but its median household income is $100,668.
Bristol, with a population of 16,807 and a median income of $44,707, comes in just below the $200,000 threshold. It pays its city manager — who is also the city attorney — $193,543 annually.
Ferrell-Benavides, who started as Martinsville’s city manager in 2023, replaced Leon Towarnicki, who retired that same year. Ferrell-Benavides started with an annual salary of $175,000. City officials would not release information about Towarnicki’s exit salary on Wednesday without a Freedom of Information Act request.
Negotiations for Ferrell-Benavides’ most recent pay increase began late last year and continued into the first quarter of 2025.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Vice Mayor Kathy Lawson gave some details about a closed session, held in March, in which the council decided to let Mayor L.C. Jones and Ferrell-Benavides complete negotiations.
“I started to make a motion, there was some discussion that that motion was not what everyone wanted so there was a motion that was made by council member Julian Mei authorizing the mayor to negotiate with the city manager,” Lawson said.
Later in Tuesday’s meeting, Mei offered his thoughts about the March 17 closed session, saying he had “great reservations about what happened that evening.”
Rawls, who did not attend the March 17 closed session, has remained vocal about his opposition to raising pay for city officials. During a council meeting later in March, Rawls was removed by a city sheriff’s deputy while expressing his concerns about several issues, among them pay increases. In June, Rawls sued Ferrell-Benavides and the deputy, Reva Keen, alleging that his civil rights had been violated. The suit is pending.
Before the vote this week, Rawls pointed out what he described as inconsistencies, specifically regarding a $10,000 vehicle-related stipend. While the city manager agreed to relinquish this stipend, Rawls pointed out that she still has access to a city car.
“We say we took away the car allowance but we offered a car,” Rawls said. “That’s a little bit misleading.”
Jones explained that the city did not purchase a car. Instead the city manager has access to cars earmarked for city business, like providing transportation for visiting guests.
“Just for the purpose of clarification on the take-home vehicle,” Jones said. “She was given a vehicle stipend. The reason why the idea of a take-home vehicle makes sense is because we now have a fleet of cars coming through Enterprise. So the same way our public works director may need a vehicle, the same way our zoning ordinance people may need a vehicle, she now has a vehicle to use out of the fleet. It’s not like we are going out and buying her a brand-new vehicle.”
Both Lawson and Jones said that the city manager has yet to make use of a city vehicle.
