As Detroit’s historic bankruptcy comes to an end and the city looks to recovery, City Council President Brenda Jones and Clerk Janice Winfrey felt that it is time for a raise – which raised the eyebrows of many citizens throughout the city.
On Monday night the Elected Officials Compensation Commission met and asked a ton of questions about whether it would be prudent to raise salaries given the current environment. Tuesday night City council was supposed to discuss the resolution and take a vote. However, they chose to table the proposal for now and come back to it later.
“Unbelieveable,” one man said to CBS local. “Raises right now are not important, getting the city back on its feet, now that’s important.”
Detroit City Council members’ are paid $73,181, the council president, $80,800, well below (21%) their counterparts in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle and Baltimore. Unfortunately, it just looks like bad timing to be asking for a raise.
“I hoped that after Detroit’s bankruptcy that the City Council would not go back to the bad old days, and would instead hold the line on spending,” James P. Katus of Eastpointe said in an email to the Detroit Free Press. “It looks like it’s not so. Only three months after the city gets out of bankruptcy, and just in time for the first pension pay cuts for city retirees, the council president and city clerk are asking for pay raises. This does not bode well for the future of the City of Detroit.”
The outcry did not stop there.
“My primary concern is…when you are doing the studies of other cities? Have any of them recently gone through a bankruptcy like this city has?” asked Barbara Roberts in Monday’s meeting that was open to the public. “I mean, we’re still baring the scars of this. I feel like it is an appalling insensitivity to raise our elected leader’s salaries at this time.”
A spokesman for Mayor Mike Duggan said the mayor is comfortable with his annual salary of $158,559 and is not seeking a raise.
“To ask for a raise at this time is just a slap in the face to all city employee retirees,” retired city worker Annie Kuykendall said to WDIV, Channel 4 news.
Zack Burgess is an award winning journalist. He is the Director/Owner of OFF WOODWARD MEDIA, LLC, where he works as a writer, editor and communications specialist. His work can be seen at zackburgess.com. Twitter: @zackburgess1
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