Northampton County Council member John Cusick and Matt Dietz have proposed a payraise for elected officials. If passed, the Executive's salary will increase from $85,000 to $95,000, the Controller's salary will rise from $65,000 to $75,000, and Council members will be paid $10,500 instead of $9,500. The Council President will continue to receive an extra $500. These wage hikes would go into effect the next term. That's because Council members have no authority to give themselves a raise. A public hearing is scheduled today. Council President Ken Kraft as suggested a more permanent solution = letting the people decide.
"It's a political football," he said. "No matter what you do, it's a no-win situation."
He added that if Council approved a payraise for the Exec, there's a good chance that it would be vetoed by the Exec. That's because he would be setting himself up for political attacks should he seek re-election.
What Kraft is suggesting is a Home Rule Charter change under which the people, and not Council, will decide whether a raise is warranted. In addition, he wants the salary tied to the consumer price index so this never is an issue again.
11 comments:
Stop this money sucking nonsense. Just vote no and be done with it. I agree with Mr. Angle who first told Cusick years ago, are you nuts?
If voters were to decide, elected officials wouldn't be paid at all. Everybody thinks the other guy/gal is overpaid, gets too many benefits, etc. Everyone thinks their own job is harder and worth more than their co-worker. People can be dicks.
Make my day, Ken. I'll vote against any public official getting a single penny more. We already have part time judges and an executive who sets the tone with his own abysmal attendance record. Our erstwhile former controller stole county time and went teaching. The public doesn't trust these crooks. The mistrust is very well earned over many years. The crying about how to attract better candidates is just stupid. The seats are filled, as they always are, and we continue to get the same bilge in elected office. That's not going to change for all the money in the world.
What about the employees each year?????? And retro????
If the goal is a successful business or functional government... highly qualified people must be recruited and retained. This is can only be achieved with competitive salaries and benefits. Otherwise, in the case of anti-government types who complain about how poorly run their government is or how high their taxes are or what someone in government is being paid (in this part of the country far too little) it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and they get exactly what they want... bad leadership and poorly functioning government.
There's no correlation between government salaries and government performance. If one exists at all, it's likely an inverse relationship.
There will always be a few high-performers with low or sub-par pay, some may be building their experience or resumes or just highly capable & motivated, but good luck retaining them or attracting those "human resources" in the first place. An inverse relationship, that's doubtful! You may be referring to people that have gamed the good old boys network or are under-qualified for their position, this is a separate issue of not seeking the best people in general.
6:27 is a partisan R who is lying about McClure.
Didn't this blog detail McClure's horrendous attendance, judges regularly cutting out early, and Barron leaving Easton to teach his NCC class? Dementia must be settling in, unless you simply posted lies during the Stoffa years. You're like Fed Ed before they played the tapes back to him. Should we assume today's posts are not factual, either?
On Lamont: https://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com/2013/05/mia-mcclure-147-committee-attendance.html
On NorCo judges in November 2016 (i think there was another post more specific to judges not working full days; referencing the empty parking spaces; may even have been a photo): "Each of these judges has his own little parking spot, which is usually empty."
On Barron, when you named him Little Stevie Blunder: https://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com/2013/10/northampton-countys-full-time.html
The county employees constantly bitching about their pay should just quit. They not only get competitive pay for their skill level and education but more. They receive over half their yearly pay in benefits. They have something no one else gets anymore, a defined pension. Half the time they are not around due to flexible hours and just so many days off.
The constant droning of some of these people is tiring. Just leave already!
This has been addressed several times. McClure really improved attendance once Brown was elected. And Barron acknowledged his mistake. You seem to think no one can get better.
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