On the Ides of March, when Northampton County Council last met, they voted to give the Controller a $10,000 payhike, effective January 2020. The annual salary paid to incumbent Bucky Szulborski is $65,000. But Lamont McClure, in the first exercise of his veto power since assuming office, has shot down the raise. He believes the people should decide
Voting for the increase were John Cusick, Matt Dietz, Peg Ferraro, Ken Kraft, Bob Werner and Tara Zrinski. Voting No were Lori Vargo Heffner and Ron Heckman. Bill McGee abstained.
Heckman said his No vote was a "matter of conscience," but I suspect what really troubled him is that the general public hates to see elected officials get raises. Vargo Heffner explained that she has only been in office a few months and doesn't want people to get the impression that the first thing she's doing is giving elected officials a raise. McGee had said he thought the voters should decide.
"No matter what you do, it's a no-win situation," Council President Ken Kraft has observed.
McClure apparently agrees that the people, and not Council, should decide whether a raise is warranted.
It will take six votes to override him.
I would override, with all due respect. Elected officials and many other government employees are simply paid too little for what they do. That includes McClure. But there is wisdom in taking the case to the voter. It's hard to complain about a raise they approve. ... If they do.
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Thursday, April 05, 2018
11 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
Stop the nonsense. There is never a shortage of people running for these positions. If you say the raises give you qualified people, what does that make the current and past officeholders? Money grab.
ReplyDeleteThen explain why only three people applied for the job.
ReplyDeleteOne time event. They probably didn't want to push for an already decided outcome. Maybe it slipped by some people caught up in life. It proves nothing as there are always candidates for these elections. Bet you if the pay stays the same their will be candidates in the elections. Stop waving a false flag.
ReplyDeleteThe number of candidates probably reflects some repulsion of the overall cesspool that is politics. Also, the perception of the NorCo controller's office became very partisan under Barron. This taxpayer doesn't want to spend any more money for some political hack from either party using the office as a political springboard. The seats get filled and we learned a long time ago that more money doesn't equal better performance. This is not business. It's government.
ReplyDeleteJohn is a good Man !
ReplyDeleteUnder "The Home Rule Charter", the Controller is designated as the official responsible for the control of ALL FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS of the County.
ReplyDeleteThe Responsibilities of the office are:(1) to audit and record financial transactions of all county agencies (2) conduct special audits (3) prepare and certify the statement of indebtedness and (4) conduct performance audits on all county agencies, even agencies receiving county dollars to promote efficiency, effectiveness, and economy in county government. The Controller serves as a check and balance to the Administration as well as the Legislative body.
I would not hesitate to pay the position a salary commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the office.
Gerald Seyfried
1. No way taxpayers approve
ReplyDelete2. $65,000 is a joke for that position. McClure should be ashamed of that veto.
"we learned a long time ago that more money doesn't equal better performance. This is not business. It's government."
ReplyDeleteWhether it is business or government, you get what you pay for. If you keep pay unreasonable low, you get political hacks. We are lucky that Bucky Szuloborski was one of the three applicants.
I would increase the salaries of Controller, Executive and Council. I could see sending this to the voter, but only if the increase is tied to a COLA. That would arguably be a Charter change. Otherwise, the referendum would have no basis in law.
"the perception of the NorCo controller's office became very partisan under Barron."
ReplyDeleteActually, Barron turned into a very good controller who followed the money and raised issues that needed to be raised. He was detested by the Rs bc the truth is sometimes inconvenient.
Just a few years ago it was a part time job. What changed other then the numbers got bigger? Barron treated it like it was part time. It is no more than that!
ReplyDeleteWhat makes someone qualified? This could be an endless argument. If you change the requirements for the job, maybe but now anyone with a pulse can run. Just like all the other offices. The notion that some great person will run and GET ELECTED is just an opinion. People get elected for many reasons, competency is usually at the bottom of the list. This is what happens with a row office. Is the salary being raised so that a "certain" person runs?
ReplyDeleteSorry but with the benefits this salary is better than most in the Valley. In fairness Both sides of the issue make some valid points.