According to today’s Post-Standard, the Mayor’s pay raise is a sure thing. I was quoted in the article, but I managed to merely paraphrase our member’s opinions. I avoided pontificating on the issue as if I spoke for the organization. That is not my role as an organizer.
However, it is my job as a blogger! And I’ve got issues!
The rate increase is retroactive. If this were truly not about the current occupant why not make it apply only to the incoming Mayor?
No one becomes Mayor because of the nice pay packet and the health insurance. If people are discouraged from running for the office because they may have to take a pay cut–we don’t want them. This isn’t a company manufacturing widgets , this is public service.
Executive compensation is an upper middle-class racket. The talking points are always the same–we will not be able to attract the really talented and gifted people we want for these top spots unless the pay is astronomical. Well I’m calling bullshit on that. Plenty of well-qualified candidates spend a lot of their own money competing for this job at every election.
Some people are concerned that the name at the top of the organizational chart doesn’t have the highest salary. I’m not overly concerned with that situation. The Mayor has a lot of institutional power that ensures his authority will be respected down through the ranks. Besides, people doing jobs like cops, firefighters and DPW workers SHOULD make more money than the Mayor. They do hard, dangerous and unpleasant jobs that merit top compensation.
Syracuse is a city that is perpetually cutting services while simultaneously raising people’s taxes and fees. In this kind of climate, it is wrong to raise elected officials’ pay.
Tags: Mayor Driscoll, pay raise, Syracuse
