Shifting gears a bit from the national turmoil... What does everyone think about city council pay raises. A group of citizens approached the New Orleans City Council about raising their pay: Council could vote to double its pay | News for New Orleans, Louisiana | Top Stories | News and Weather for New Orleans | wwltv.com Now, keep in mind, this issue was brought up by the people, not the councilmembers (unlike in the State Legislature). Given the fact that in New Orleans, councilmembers only make $42,500 a year - and haven't gotten a pay raise in over 20 years -is a raise warranted? And not necessarily based on past performance, but perhaps for the future? I'm almost inclined to think that raising their pay would perhaps entice more qualified and influential people to run for city government. I'm curious to see what other people think about this.
First, I'm assuming these guys are full time if they make that kind of money. Secondly, my guess is that citizen's brought it up because they are tired of corruption. In a vacuum, I think 42,500 is not a bad salary. Doubling it is way too much in my opinion. The fact is, in New Orleans, you will not get rid of corruption by raising salaries. It's too engrained. It's not about making ends meet anymore, it's about getting all you can out of your position to them. I personally think it is irresponsible for any city employee to vote themselves a raise in today's economy.
I never agree with a doubling. Salaries should rise over time, obviously, but doubling them is excessive.
I don't think that being a city councilman is anywhere close to being a full time job. $42,500 is great pay for attending a few meetings a week. All of these people have other full time jobs. I think most of them are lawyers
I could only assume that it was a full time job at that salary. If it is not, then they are way overpaid as it is.
I disagree...at least in a very small sample of scenarios, specifically mine. I took a promotion in April without a pay increase. By the time January rolls around I will have gotten 3 Cisco certifications and an additional certification in offensive security all within the last 8 months. I don't like to toot my own horn but for those of you unfamiliar with Cisco certifications, 3 in less than a year is pretty impressive by industry standards. When it's performance appraisal time (January), I expect my salary to nearly double. May or may not apply since I'm not a politician and that's what we are talking about.
i dont know what the council positions in nola are like, or if they are considered full or part time jobs. but here, they are considered part time and the pay is $12,000 a year. but that is nothing considering the jobs arent nearly as part time as everyone assumes. it is more than "a few meetings a week". a friend of mine used to be a council person, and i can tell you that between going to various neighborhood meetings in her ward in the evenings, official council meetings and committee meetings, reading and preparing for her own meetings, keeping apprised of what was going on with the various oversight boards for the city, etc, etc. (so she could communicate with her board representatives, of which i was one), she put in a helluva lot of time for the job. if a member is going to do the job diligently, they put in a lot more time than one assumes. that said, the $42,000 seems adequate if considered to be "part time", even though it is more demanding that what it seems, considering what part time council members here make. if they are considered to be "full time" then a pay increase is likely warranted, though certainly not double.
