Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008 | I read this weekend the council may consider giving away its responsibility for setting its own wages by tying it to an unknown percentage of another branch of government, the judiciary. Well, besides our need to separate the branches of government, most judges, not all, are brighter than our councilmembers. Sure, brightness shouldn’t be the only measure, but it sure needs to be considered.
I see the local consumer price index has risen 35.6 percent over the past decade. In other words, more than one-third of the value of your dollar has disappeared in the last 10 years. No wonder city workers, in this case councilmembers, are looking for a raise without being held accountable.
Unfortunately, other city workers will not have the perk of insulating themselves like this. No, while their negotiations are held in private, the results are very public. And this means painting them as greedy self-serving good-for-nothings.
We have a process for setting salaries for the mayor, council and other elected officials in place now. It seems to be working just fine.