City Council Employees Get "Cost of Living" Raises

The City Council will give 550 council aides and central staffers approximately $3.9 million in raises for this year’s salaries and, retroactively, for last year’s salaries. The decision, which was not bogged down by any annoying "voting," was framed by Council speaker Christine Quinn's spokesperson as a "cost of living increase." Charles Meara, the Council's chief of staff and top paid employee, will see his salary go up to $209,973 from $194,132, a gain of $15,841. And his deputy chief of staff, Ramon Martinez III, got a nice bump too, from $191,664 to $207,303. (The Wonkster has a nice top 10 list of the Council's highest paid staffers.) The salary increases, which do not apply to council members, come on the heels of Mayor Bloomberg's $45 million in raises for his staff. And the city's district attorneys and borough presidents have given or are expected to give similar raises. Bucking the trend, City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., a cash-starved Democratic candidate for mayor, has frozen the salaries of all his employees who make over $90,000 a year. But how will they afford the cost of living?!

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By John Del Signore in News on August 7, 2009 9:59 AM

Comments [rss]

Bubba

So $194,132 is not competitive? The Vice-President of the United States makes $198,600. The Secretary of State makes $171,900.

ianmac47

Councilmembers' staff are be headhunted for the Vice Presidency or Secretary of State. But they certainly are going to be qualified for, and often become, high level positions in corporate management, public relations, or legal careers.

Who should be writing ordinances and laws? Someone who went to a top tier law school or someone who barely passed night school and flunked the bar? Who should be keeping tab of spending-- someone qualified to oversee a corporate balance sheet with a $60 billion operating budget, or someone who barely got through calculus?

The prestige of the public sector only goes so far to attract qualified employees; low pay is a serious drawback for an educated professional.

dirty hipster

pwned

ianmac47

Oh please, how many more zeros do you think would be inserted to these people's salaries if they were in the private sector holding equivalent posts? If you want government to run efficiently and effectively-- if you want to compete like a business-- you need to pay competitive salaries to have qualified employees.

Bubba

BSS1982, it's not wrong to make a good living as a public servant. I'd say that $194,132 a year is a very nice living. But a $15,000 a year retroactive raise when services are being cut across the board is outlandish, especially when it is done by decree.

BSS1982

So, it's wrong to make a good living as a Public Servant? Is that what this is about?

NannyState

Funny, every time these political hacks get raises, the cost of living goes up.

felixthecat2

Pigs aren't crooked and disgusting as Quinn. check them out at WoodStock Sanctuary. Very negative image for pigs to compare them to Whore Quinn.

felixthecat2

Christine Quinn and the council voted themselves a 25% pay raise years ago and now their part time job pays them 110K. vote Quinn out!!!!!!!! this is why she extend her job a 3rd term after she already (dis)served 10 years. time for her to GET OUT

Steven

City crying for money and yet they have money to give out. Gotta love our government. The citizens are just pawns in a game of chess.

Bubba

Time for Quinn to go. It is insane that she has a staff member who makes over $200K. Subway fares up. Rents up. Taxes up. "Our" government looks at us as if we were one giant check book. Fuck all of them. I am voting against every single incumbent, All of these assholes would have been forced out by term limits but they thumbed their collective nose as the will of the people. Crooks and bums, they are...

DOLPHIN

And congress just bought themselves a bunch of private jet too...

Anything to help boost the economy right? But if the GM/Ford guys do it, its time to raise hell.

abcohen

ARE YOU KIDDING!?!?!

These guys are making 6 figures!!! WHAT?

silver

The more you give to staffers, civil servents, and politicians, the more you stimulate the economy. Keynesian FTW!!!!!!

woodendesigner

This is such crap. Pure greed and a bad example.

ML152

this is so tone deaf it is incredible.

Jen S

Let it be known that I hate these people. Our pathetic 3% raise was canceled this year. Four+ years with a company and I'm still making under $40k. Why did I go to college?

Tpooh2

Jen...Jen...do we work for the same company? We saw NO raises either this year! Our Christmas dinner...we had to pay for it, and didn't find out until we got to the restaurant.

John Del Signore

That's messed up!

pastaboy12

i think we should all go to our bosses today and ask for a $15,000 raise. sure could use it

hotstepper

this is all so very surprising.

Tpooh2

Picture win!

nicemarmot

I was thinking it was really an insult to those poor pigs. They're just eating at the trough and now they are a metaphor for greedy government whores?