Salary hikes must be passed before Election Day – New York Daily News
As reported in the Daily News this weekendThe city council plans to vote for a pay raise itself in the final days of its current term, which ends Dec. 31. We say conspiracy because this decision is absolutely illegal. If they attempt to do so, Mayor Adams must veto it. Any salary increases for politicians will have to wait years. Sorry about that friends.
Article 27 of the City Charter says, in its entirety: “No local law or resolution increasing or decreasing salaries or other allowances, pursuant to section 26, shall be passed during the period between the day of the general election and December 31, both days inclusive, in any year in which all members of the council are elected. »
This provision is there to prevent the type of underhanded dealings that Albany engages in, by voting for a pay raise for itself after Election Day, which will go into effect on January 1st.
Queens City Councilwoman Nantasha Williams told The News that her pay raise bill, which has about 30 co-sponsors, will increase the Council’s current salary of $148,500 by $24,000 (16%) to $172,500. The amount is not the problem. The time has come. It’s simply too late. And it would be a serious mistake for the new Council and the new president who will take office on January 1 to offer themselves a salary increase. Salary increases must be voted on before elections and only apply after the elections.
Which leads us to wonder where the contenders for the speaker position stand: Selvena Brooks-Powers, Amanda Farías, Crystal Hudson, Chris Marte and Julie Menin. Are they co-sponsoring Williams’ Charter-violating bill? Do they think the next Council should give itself a salary increase? As a speaker, is a salary increase part of the plan for the next term? They all have to answer.
As for the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani successfully presented himself on the issue of financial accessibility. He wasn’t talking about increasing politicians’ salaries. Any salary increases should wait until the normal legal time for such matters, which is many years from now, and not be illegally rushed through by a lame-duck board.
Williams’ bill has not yet been introduced, which is expected to happen tomorrow. We look forward to seeing dozens of names on this page who are so willing to blatantly violate the city’s supreme law, the Charter.
The last salary increase for the mayor, city council and other elected officials was in 2016. Article 3-601 of the city administrative codewhich resulted from the recommendations of the Quadrennial consultative commission for the review of the remuneration levels of elected officials. The Council adopted without modification the panel report for all positions except their own, in addition to the amounts received for the members of the Council and the president. The panel wanted $138,315 for the Council and $154,375 for the president, but the greedy Poles coughed up another $10,000 plus change to set salaries at $148,500 and $164,500.
The Quadrennial Commission was supposed to meet in January 2020, but Mayor de Blasio never acted. It was then supposed to meet in January 2024, but Mayor Adams never organized it. The next meeting is supposed to take place in January 2028. Mamdani should then respect the law and implement it.
We urged de Blasio to act, to no avail. We urged Adams to actbut he didn’t do it. We also urged the Charter Revision Commission to reform the salary increase process to prevent personal salary increases, but they foolishly let this go through even though we warned a problem was going to happen. The problem is now here. Fix it in 2028 with a panel and raise wages in 2030, after the 2029 election. And could someone finally amend the Charter so that all wage increases only take effect after an election?
