>I strongly beleive that the discussion of the Manager’s raise is something that needs to continue
Many seem to believe that because the majority voted in favor of a resolution, that any legislator who disagrees, should be silent. “That’s the system at work”. I have to disagree with you. Arohnson speaking out on the issue was the correct thing to do. There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered before this issue is put to bed. First, the Manager’s increase was up on the agenda on Tuesday as a Consent item. which was intended to eliminate any public discussion. Therefore, the public had no idea what was coming. The few regular attendee who were there,voiced their displeasure.
The VC Council meeting are open to the public and even the minutes of their closed session should be available. Second, obviously there had been previous discussions among the Councilmembers, which the public was not previed to. I’m curious as to the origin of the increase: Did the Village Manger come to the VC and say “I want a raise” or, though its highly unlikely, did one or more members of the VC go to the Village Manager and say “You’re doing a great job, you deserve a raise”? In either case, who negotiated the amount of the increase and why was it retroactive? What is the justification, if any, for paying the Village Manager more than the Governor? Really, a 12% increase! Third, was the Manager’s raise ever part of the “incentive” bonus pool for the non-union employees? If so, was it taken out of the pool, by the VC, to avoid any public discussion? Fourth, was the $20,000 raise meant to relace the amount that the Village Manager gave up, when the Village hired a new CFO?
Finally,the public is entitled to much more specific explantions from the individual Council Members as to why they voted as they did. I’m not satisfied with the broad statements that the Village Manager saved hundreds of thousands of dollars or that he’s doing a great job. Unfortunately, I don’t think either statement is true.
As a further reply. I think the tone from Deputy Mayor Riche is clearly intended to be intimidating. Many of us have viewed this behavior on his part and our deeply troubled by it.
I strongly beleive that the discussion of the Manager’s raise is something that needs to continue. That several VC members, say that the public should accept what they did until the next election, raises serious doubts that what they did can ever be justified. Elected officals are accountable for their actions throughout their terms. If a Councilperson does not want to justify his or her actions, he or she should be recalled and relaced by someone who does. THAT’S THE WAY THE SYSTEM SHOULD WORK!
