Newton city councilors voted Monday to override a mayoral veto and give pay increases to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and themselves (but not the school committee), the Boston Globe reports.
The 22 to 2 vote to override was the first mayoral veto in 20 years. Ward 2 Councilor at-large Jake Auchincloss and Ward 7 Councilor at-large Becky Grossman, both candidates for Congress and reelection, once again voted against.
I have a question, and forgive me if I sound ignorant. Why can’t public officials vote for an annual automatic increase/decrease in pay based on the inflation/deflation of the Consumer Price Index. That way, when determining if a pay increase/decrease is needed, we could focus on if the job of a councilor/mayor/school committee member has actually become more time-consuming.
I always thought it was more politically expedient to vote prospectively for pay raises so you are not voting on one’s on salary increase.
For example the next City Council, or the next Mayor would have an increase.
Nonetheless, I do support the increase in salary given the tremendous amount of time & attention given to constituent service, committee & Council meetings.
@all: a few comments/corrections:
The school committee is also getting a raise on January 1, 2020. The Mayoral veto was not overridden as a technical move. A separate docket item voted on last night granted the SC their increased comp.
@Gloria: The reason that the CC is required by ordinance to vote prior to the election is precisely your point. This sitting CC does not receive the increased compensation. The CC that sits starting January 1, 2020 gets the raise. Also, Mayor Fuller does not benefit from this vote, but the Mayor inaugurated on January 1, 2022 will receive the increased Mayoral compensation.
@all: Those authorized the increased comp do not have to accept the increase if they wish not to.
The amount is not a huge percentage, and certainly not worth the optics of this override – a pay raise, while the teachers still work without a contract.
Even “Ruth” understands the implication of the optics.
Two comments have been removed here from someone who is intentionally misstating the name of an elected official. That person is welcome to try again using the correct name.
Must be great to vote a pay raise for yourself while your teachers as well as other unions work without a contract and the police union has been without a contract/pay raise for over 5 years!!! Don’t give tell me that the council is separate from those negotiations, we all know the counsel has influence…We won’t forget
Makes me think how I will vote next time. Teachers and other city employees don’t have a contract, but this voted group was able to get the budget and approval for a salary increase. What are each of the doing to help get city employees contracts?
I support the increase in compensation, but also expect the current and future councilors and school committee members will use their voices as city leaders to advocate strongly for a negotiated settlement of the 17 city contracts.
I agree with Mayor Fuller’s veto. The Council voted pay increases beyond the recommendations of the BRC. This also increases the City’s pension liabilities and health care costs for years to come. Councilors can receive life time pensions and health care after 10 years of service. Newton voters can express themselves at the ballot box this November.
Kudos to Councilors Jake and Becky for voting no.
Tsk on the others — because I know I’m going to read something in the coming two years about no money being available for the council to approve funding this or that project.
I take pride in the City of Newton’s mayor’s resolve to forgo a salary increase. She leads by example and continues to prove her mettle.
Isn’t it bizarre that the 2 “no” votes are both running for congress next year??
Tom, It shows that we have two outstanding Councilors that are both “Profiles in Courage” and put the interests of citizens first. Newton will be well served by having either of them as our next Representative in Congress. Becky and Jake are both shining stars.
Peter Kang, they would be real “profiles in courage” if they both started advocating for taking care of city employees and settling the 17 contracts that haven’t been settled, not voting down a fairly minor increase in pay for themselves.
I am not alone in saying that I will literally vote for a new name down the ballot for each council member and each school committee member and, when I can, the mayor, come election time. We clearly have maybe one or perhaps two council members who have any value and they are doing everything they can to get the hell out of Newton. We should have a smaller, less expensive, more effective and more straight forward council. We should have a more straight forward mayor who doesn’t gas light with her “newsletters”. I regret voting for her more than any other vote I’ve ever cast at the ballot box. We should have a more effective and more straight forward and far less political school committee. New names, new faces. We need a shake up.
Casey,
That’s what people did when they elected Trump. How well has that worked out for the US? Voting for any new name just because it is a new name is not a very smart strategy, particularly with the current new SC candidates, none of whom have kids in the system, and none of whom have any volunteer experience with NPS or demonstrated any sustained interest in the schools, until the whole curriculumgate started.
Irene, you wrote that the best School Committee members “have kids in the system” or “volunteer experience.”
I respectfully disagree. The best SC members, in my opinion, are outsiders so they can discuss and vote without bias.
Ari, I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. It is, absolutely, #1 criteria that I look at. I want them to be biased – FOR OUR SCHOOLS! We already have a SC member who has had no experience with public schools – the Mayor – and that has been nothing but a disaster. Having someone on the SC who won’t be impacted by a decision that that make – thanks, but no thanks.
@Ari Herzog having School Committee members with kids in the schools is important so that they understand how the current system works albeit they should also have other facets to their background that add to what they bring to the position. SC is one of the areas where understanding the details and complexities of NPS is critical to making higher level decisions. You can’t just try implement big ideas/concepts if you don’t know how the system works. Real life experience with the schools is incredibly helpful t understanding the details.
@Casey there aren’t many new names on the SC ballot and only one is running against an incumbent. Two of the new names on there are primarily one issue candidates (focused on their belief that NPS is instilling anti Israel bias). Though I have been unhappy with some moves by the SC ie failure to implement later high school start times, reducing allowable PTO spending without having a funding mechanism from the City to fill the gap etc I’m not sure a any new name is a good choice. Though I second you on wishing I had not voted for Mayor Fuller. I wish there were some better candidates both in SC and City Council.
Casey, do your due diligence on the candidates. I understand the desire for new blood, but there are several candidates who I think could be downright dangerous on the school committee.
@Mary and @Newton Highlands Mom: Look. I hear you. I’ve done some due diligence and I think that these incumbents have gotten complacent and they’re extraordinarily, shockingly political. There aren’t many contested races, but having some new faces may be exactly what the incumbents need to stop retreading the same budgets, the same votes and maintaining the status quo. We need fresh eyes on everything from meeting rules to budgets to contracts. I’m sick of hearing “Yes, that could have been done with more transparency.” And I’ve heard that at least ten times in the past year and a half alone. I want to see people who won’t just vote because they’ve already agreed to a vote before they walk into the room. By the way, Trump got elected on a unifying platform of hate. It’s just false equivalency to act like my, and others, wanting to see more than just the same tired names on the slate year after year means that we want to see a bunch of Trumps get elected. That’s ridiculous. And shaming. We’re not trying to make Newton Great Again. We’re looking for accountability. Posting, emailing, writing and speaking a bunch of word salad does not make for good representation. Doing the work you were elected to do makes for good representation.