139,000 all-time page views 9:34 AM 11-12-13
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Pay for councilors, aldermen varies widely between large and small cities, but civic officials all say the job requires more time than people realize With the affirmation in the Boston Globe regarding this writer's revelation on Patch that we have one of the most expensive city councils in Massachusetts, it is time that citizens held the city council, school committee and mayor to the highest of standards.
Unpretty Council Government Channel - color bars for the summer
When a Lynn Mayor demands the city council take a pay cut, one wonders how Michael J. McGlynn refuses to set a good example taking a cut himself, recusing himself from the paid post as Chairman of the School Committee, and demanding the city council and school committee do likewise in these tough economic times.
Kathy McCabe wrote in the Boston Globe on October 20:
LYNN — Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy has called on city councilors to
reduce their annual $15,302 pay until a Superior Court lawsuit over
mayoral pay is resolved.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2013/10/19/lynn-mayor-councilors-take-pay-cut/dt38h...
“There is an ordinance that says 15 percent of my salary is their
salary,” Kennedy said during the Sept. 30 debate. “I’m calling on the
council to take that amount, until the court decides, whether it is
proper or not.”
Kennedy filed a lawsuit
in 2010 against former Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr., whom she defeated by
30 votes in 2009. Kennedy alleges that Clancy was overpaid during his
eight years as mayor.
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With Robert A. Maiocco retiring his bloated Thirty Thousand Dollars a year for gavel banging over taxi licenses must be re-evaluated. In fact, the obscene amount of time a two hundred thousand dollar a year city council spends with Paul Camuso futzing around with taxi cab licenses (Paul thinks he deserves double the pay because he multi tasks talking to his aunty futzing around on the cellphone while futzing around with taxi cab licenses) is a joke. Add his poor attendance record and leaving the council when key votes are going to be made (when he does decide to show up) and you have the lowest of standards that is just a spit in the face to Medford taxpayers, residents and voters. Look, these politicians will tell you they have a "mandate" because they got less than 6,000 votes in a city of over 57,000 people. The low standards exhibited by Maiocco and his nephew-by-marriage, Camuso, their bad example, can be improved upon, will be improved upon, must be improved upon in 2014 with the ringleader riding off into the sunset. Without Uncle Bob to guide him, Camuso is going to be easier to rein in and control. The filibustering Camuso did on the Lawrence Memorial Hospital when Camuso didn't have the decency on October 8th to stay for the Michael Sack Q & A is all you need to know about inefficiency and deceptive maneuvering by a councilor more concerned about his own needs than those of his constituents.
On the same day McCabe wrote about the Lynn Mayor, she also wrote the story of Medford's expensive City Council entitled
"On the public dime"
October 20, 2013
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2013/10/19/payday-varies-widely-for-city-councilors... A Globe review of payroll data for councilors and aldermen in the 19 cities north of Boston puts Medford at the top — and Amesbury at the bottom — of the city council pay scale.
Medford councilors earn $27,529 per year, with higher pay given to the president and vice president. Amesbury councilors earn just $3,000 per year, with the president receiving a $1,000 stipend.
Paying this kind of money to people for a part time job, when they boldly take the summer off, is a joke.
Thank you Dr. Storella for being very clear when you - in facetious fashion - expressed gratitude hoping they "enjoyed" their summer vacation. It is pitiful when elected officials don't see how wrong the acceptance of that much money is and try to make excuses for their absence over the summer months - or Camuso's absence when the council IS in session. Every single meeting of the council features Camuso and Freddy Dello Russo Jr. getting up to ...ho hum...stretch their legs and schmooze with voters...while the other 5 councilors get the work of the city done.
Now is the time to make changes. I will be writing a letter to the council's newest member, Adam McGknight, and asking him to put a motion on the table to reduce councilor pay and demand more meetings during the summer months. Without an access TV station the "people's forum" was our only chance to get the message out in 2013. We were deprived of that right in July and August and part of September.
It's time the citizens spoke up about this egregious payout to all elected officials, and don't get me started on Michael J. McGlynn. The Mayor is the worst offender.
Mike McGlynn: Willie Antigua LOVES you, and is, no doubt, in awe of you.
to be continued.
