March 18, 2008...7:53 pm
The color of money
“We may have to look at a salary freeze, and take a breather for this year,” says Mayor Lukes, calling the top 250 salaries evidence that we pay “comfortable” salaries. Of course, the bottom 250 salaries in the city have not been requested by the council.
“How about a breather than you voted yourself a raise?” wonders Frank Raffa (rhetorically) from the back of the room.
“We’ve got to change our [adversarial] thinking around here,” says Lukes. She held hold the item under privilege to prevent it from being filed away into the circular file.
Now, Rushton has requested a report on all the municipal wage earners. (The Boston Herald has last year’s data on their site for a year; we do a similar piece semi-annually).
He also says a salary freeze is not a council decision; it’s also negotiating in bad faith, he says. “I’m not going to inflame [O'Brien's] negotiations based on a list of the top 250.”
Rushton and Eddy both profess that we’re getting a “good value.”
“I look at that list of 250…we’re getting what we’re paying for,” says Eddy.
And Petty has asked for a “blank” next to everyone’s name. Unfortunately, that’s illegal, as Lukes just pointed out. The info is public. (Anyone noticing a trend on public information here?)
Palmieri: “In order to make ends meet [in public safety], these [officers] are trying to work as hard as they have to for their family.”
“If a public safety official didn’t have to work an additional 25, 30 hours a week, they wouldn’t. They’re doing it for their families.”
Here’s the problem though: The city councilors are all defending city employees for working hard for their money as if a media/public horde were attacking that reality. But the majority of vox populi complaints have nothing to do with individuals working a system hard…it’s the system that people complain about.
City Manager Michael O’Brien says that looking at the salaries in a vacuum isn’t fair. “It doesn’t put things in perspective.”
“I believe this city receives a tremendous return.”
8:52, updated 8:57, 9:06, 9:18
6 Comments
March 18, 2008 at 9:50 pm
if a few of these cats lived in the urban core of the city they may feel different or if they spent a few days outside the city to see what folks really think of Worcester they may comment differently:>
but neither is gonna happen and we al know this:> 
March 19, 2008 at 7:48 am
I particularly liked Smith’s comment: “It’s the American Dream to earn as much money as you possibly can.”
Umm, well, maybe not.
March 19, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Here’s an mp3 of the salary discussion:
http://www.archive.org/download/worcester_cc_2008-03-18_salaries/worcester_cc_2008-03-18_salaries.mp3
More about this council meeting:
http://worcesteractivist.org/wiki/City_Council_Meeting%2C_2008-03-18
March 21, 2008 at 9:00 am
[...] comparing the philosophies of Joff Smith, Dr. Dre, and Thomas Jefferson, we talk about the City Council’s salary debate. (Audio of the [...]
March 22, 2008 at 9:30 am
Konnies comment that we are going to be very alarmed about the upcoming census report is what we should be talking about….this is where the city is moving and it aint “on the move”
March 22, 2008 at 9:51 am
regarding kate Twoomey’s comments…are WPD officers compensated for their education? I know in Somerville a fireman is compensated for higher education
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