It must be nice to represent New York in the city council....and I am not talking about fulfilling the patriotic duty of public service. Technically speaking, serving as a City Councilperson is a part time job, one that now commands a salary of $112,500 a year. The Council generously gave themselves an extra $22,500 a year recently despite many earning tens of thousands (or more) in other professions.
From The Daily News:
After they approved a $22,500 pay raise in November, members promised to take up the question of whether the job really is part time and whether they should be allowed outside income.
"They punted until a later time. The time has now arrived," said Dick Dadey, executive director of government watchdog Citizens Union.
Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the Governmental Operations Committee, promised to hold hearings on the issue by year's end.
Most of the members working overtime last year pulled in modest amounts as consultants or teachers, but five possibly doubled their Council salaries with second jobs.
Many of these public servants pull in six figures without counting the city job already. Voting to approve this pay raise strikes me as being a just a tad greedy. Councilman McMahon (D-S.I.) can at least see the problem here, and had voted against the hike and even refused to accept the additional raise. If only the other few dozen of his peers would as well, they might see the problem here. If they want to make it a full time job that would be one thing, but a "promised hearing" is nothing more than a promise and not reality.
|