New York City Council members, largely unemployed with any real job, voted Thursday to pay themselves more than U.S. senators or most state governors.
The 18.2% raise would boost their salaries to $175,000, far more than almost any of them earned before being elected, or ever hoped to earn again.
The quadrennial advisory committee, which recommended the big pay raise, is a useful tool for the board to pretend they are not voting on the increase themselves, but merely endorsing what the committee (a group of friendly insiders) has proposed.
The city “last issued a pay increase for its elected officials in 2016,” and “the cost of living has risen significantly,” the QC notes.
But today’s council members were not in office in 2016, and they ran for the position knowledge What I paid for – a significant increase in income for almost all of them.
Let’s be real: About 40% of board members today have their only significant professional experience Staff to local or state politicians; This is just another step in what appears to be a lifelong career in and around politics.
Incidentally, this job was considered a part-time job, until “reformers” banned outside income in an attempt to “professionalize” the council.
This means: reserving the position for professional politicians, with the exception of almost all private sector professionals.
These tax eaters have lived in the bubble world of municipal governments for so long that they have lost all sense of perspective.
Councilman Ty Hankerson (D-Jamaica), whose previous job was an aide to his predecessor Adrian Adams, told Gothamist that his current salary of $148,500 is too low due to the many bills he has to pay, and that so far it “seems impossible” for him to afford to buy a house.
However, the median household income in the Hankerson area is $71,000. Imagine how bad his constituents who work real jobs feel.
Maybe he should run a Go Fund Me so they can help him pay his car bill.
Adding insult to injury here, the raise is retroactive to January, so each employee will get a big check for 10 or 15 grand to compensate them for all the low-paid work they’ve been doing.
The city council charter says I cannot Giving Himself a Raise: The raise does not have to take effect until the next term, giving voters the choice of whether or not to allow their representatives to enjoy the raise.
It’s bad enough that the board is full of hackers.
The prospect of them getting away with a pay rise is simply obscene.