Mayor Bell has swung and missed. While asking unions to "give back" to help close the budget gap and looking for a tax increase, he has increased the salaries of several employees. I cannot believe he pulled a stunt like that. I can understand some of these workers deserved a raise, but now? Bad move. He lost some support points from me with this move.
Here's the blade link
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100209/NEWS16/2090402
Comments ... #
Maybe he will re-do the bathroom in Harley Davidson Theme too!!!
It's who the people wanted!!!
I'd take any of those jobs that got a raise for $20,000 a year. With my retirement that would give me $50,000 a year. Of course, whether I would do them well, or competently is another matter. But then fire me, and hire another "cheap" administrator. Keep on until you find someone who will do a good job for $20,000 a year. In these times the employer should have the upper hand.
posted by oldsendbrdy on Feb 09, 2010 at 12:59:08 pm #
With the economy the way it is and so many companies issuing wage increase freezes this is a slap in the face to taxpayers. How dare be so blatantly brazen here with these ridiculously high percentages. Does anybody out there know of anyone that has ever gotten a 27% increase in pay all at once?
Independent my ass. And here we go again.
So yeah...how about actually electing a gasp conservative in Toledo to see how things go?
posted by JustaSooner on Feb 09, 2010 at 01:09:51 pm #
You would pay 20K per year for a City Law Director? Good luck with that plan.
You have to pay competitive wages to lure competent, high-performing people. One of the reasons Toledo has floundered for so long is that no one of any quality will work for such poor pay.
The amounts of money given to these few people in the form of these raises is a miniscule portion of the city's budget. The haters around here need some perspective.
One person went from making $60K+ to $85,000, if my math is correct. And she had been there for more than 30 years. While I am all for rewarding longevity and the knowledge of a job that comes with it, how does that go along with your theory of "higher pay attracts better workers"? It's not like this was an open position that needed to be filled. There was nothing to indicate that this person had done anything out of the ordinary to receive a pay increase of nearly 30%.
Smacks of political paybacks.
Bell must have a tin ear if he doesn't see how this is going to sound to the voters.
JohnnyMac, I have a perspective on it. My opinion is that these positions were already filled. These "raises" were because he felt these people deserved them.
Maybe in a twisted form of logic, by paying them more, it will bring in more city taxes and therefore help the deficit. lol
The amounts of the raises are excessive, and I agree with Hockeyfan: Mayor Bell loses points with me, too.
Must be nice to be hand-picked for a pay raise and a lifestyle upgrade when the rest of an entire city around you has been asked time and time again to tighten their belts to the point of having no notches left yet will be asked again in May.
"You have to pay competitive wages to lure competent, high-performing people."
The banks and fat cats on Wall Street that were bailed out with our money said the same thing when they gave themselves million dollar bonsues. Give me a break. People have gone to the ballot to throw out the incumbents for this very reason. They are not accountable with out money. I can't wait for the next election to vote the bums out.
How can Bell give out raises when we don't have the money in the budget. I voted for Bell. I wish I hadn't.
I would even feel better about these raises if he would have waited until the budget was balanced.
It just proves further that politicians have a completely different thought process when it comes to money and finances. When any normal person is short on their budget, they tighten their belts, make cuts, and if not, they lose something. Toledo has had a deficit and still has not balanced the budget, but now they're giving out "deserved" raises. It's so horrible, it's funny.
I'm with you jmleong and bikerdude. The raises are excessive and I am also having misgivings about Bell, having voted for him myself. I am among many who are suffering through a "wage freeze" and we are being asked to fork over more in income tax? If this does reach the ballot, for the sake of principle and my wallet, I'm going to say Hell No!
Next contestant, come on down!
posted by SavageFred on Feb 09, 2010 at 08:44:14 pm #
"One of the reasons Toledo has floundered for so long is that no one of any quality will work for such poor pay."
For too many years, too many Toledo voters have elected too many city council members who have supported too many destructive, mayoral decisions.
Giving raises to non-elected people won't change anything. City council still votes either way.
Maybe intelligent people within an administration would help streamline government, but with a strong mayor and a city council that supports the mayors too often, I don't see how the situation can be improved.
Look at that committee Bell organized to find solutions to help Toledo. That group proposed the entertainment tax, and Bell proposed an increase in the income tax. Raising taxes is always one of the solutions for TPS, local governments, and organizations. So where's the change? How about drastic changes within local government? An overhaul. A do-over. A re-write. Start with the basics, the real necessities.
Perhaps Ms. Wallace (who is acting director of human resources) has considered bringing action against the city because she was doing duties for which she is not being compensated. This seems to work well for other former employees. Of course, she probably should have just resigned. I am sure that the employees of that department would continue to work just as well without her leadership.
posted by oldsendbrdy on Feb 09, 2010 at 09:40:55 pm #
I will vote a resounding NO!.When my wages have been frozen and my benefits cut I can't support this increase.
posted by buckeye278 on Feb 09, 2010 at 10:34:53 pm #
How about having the public employees work longer like I have to.Don't allow them to retire until age 65.If they retire earlier than reduce their retirement income four percent per year like a lot of the private sector people have to do.Also, don't let them sell sick time.Make them use it or lose it.Don't allow them to double dip or better yet don't rehire them.Hire someone younger that needs a job.People in the private sector have their social security benefits reduced if they choose to work after they retire and make over a certain amount.They have to wait at least until they are 66 to be able to make a decent amount of money without being penalized.
posted by buckeye278 on Feb 09, 2010 at 10:46:44 pm #
Not to get off on a tangent, but what exactly is an entertainment tax? Who would it be levied against? I heard about it but haven't read any detail as to what is proposed.
absolutely need to change contracts... however, the new mayor gets rid of the previous admin's people and brings in his own people... including some who currently are city employees. these people move into roles as departments heads etc. it is awkward politically but he has the right to put his people in charge and compensate them at department head rates.
posted by enjoyeverysandwich on Feb 09, 2010 at 11:21:59 pm #
None of those jobs "deserve" a raise. Considering the deficit, those jobs actually deserve a pay cut.
Increased taxation to continue the farce of expensive city government will only drive more residents and businesses away ... which will increase the pressure to tax. This is a death spiral, and it will lead to catastrophe.
Stop voting Democrat.
You have to be kidding us Guest, Bell is a closet Pub.
And there you go.
LOL!
Bell is a closet liberal.
posted by Linecrosser on Feb 10, 2010 at 01:24:43 am #
Closet lib, closet pub, who cares? He's an open dunderhead.
Feb 10, 2010 - Toledo Blade - Bell stands by raises in face of unions' ire
Steve Herwat, deputy mayor of operations, said the top-level employees were entitled to raises from promotions and because many are performing work that used to be handled by more than one person.
Feb 9, 2010 - Glass City Jungle posting :
Lots of people out there deserve raises, my husband is one of the hardest working guys I know, he’s taken on more responsibility as jobs have been cut and not only is he not getting a raise, employer contributions to 401K has ended and our health insurance is going to cost 11% more this year.
Back to today's Blade story and the rationalizations from Toledo officials:
Toledo City Council President Wilma Brown yesterday spoke in favor of the pay increases, saying they were justified because some of those employees were moved to higher positions by Mr. Bell.
The fact that Wilma 'Flame-Proof' Brown is council president shows what a joke city government is.
Councilman George Sarantou, chairman of council's finance committee, acknowledged that the timing is not perfect but said the pay raises were justified.
Sarantou is a Republican. But more alarming, Sarantou is a finance guy. Based upon Sarantou's wasteful spending votes in the past like voting to fund the Erie Street Sinkhole, Sarantou has to be the worst finance guy around.
The pay raises may not be that bad of an issue if Bell wasn't wanting to increase the income tax with a May 4 public vote. The city should keep making cuts and finding ways to save money without wanting a tax increase.
You have to be kidding us Guest, Bell is a closet Pub.
And there you go.
LOL!
posted by Ryan on Feb 09, 2010 at 11:48:26 pm #
Bell is a closet liberal.
posted by Linecrosser on Feb 10, 2010 at 12:24:43 am #
UH Ryan? He's a registered Dem.
this continued arguement about liberal-conservative democrat-republican when talking about local offices is to not grasp the dynamics, is frankly irrelevant, and actually prevents solutions from being found. bell got into office with a combination of safety forces, some unions, moderate republican money/support network and a smattering of both "a" and "b" team democrats. it is about putting together a coalition and boxing your opponent into a corner. city council is nearly powerless in the liberal-conservative discussion.
posted by enjoyeverysandwich on Feb 10, 2010 at 02:42:06 pm #
We need City Officials that will work to get us out of this death spiral BEFORE they start giving themselves huge raises and increasing taxes.
Do city workers still have to live in Toledo or did that get squashed?
posted by Urbanshrink on Feb 10, 2010 at 02:47:12 pm #
I believe that was squashed by the Ohio Supreme Court. Pity, though.
I guess what grates me most about this whole thing is Herwat's comment that some of these folks are doing the jobs of two and three people. Well, so are a lot of us, in these days of corporate downsizing, wage freezes and union givebacks. It still doesn't justify an increase of nearly 30%. Not when you're asking for tax increases.
jr: I work for a Toledo based company, and we normally get a 3% a year increase but was put on hold due to the economy and trying to keep the business from closing, also didnt get a Christmas bonus either. Have also known several people in the field who volunteered to make 50%-75% their normal contract rates in exchange for stability. It's rough times.
posted by INeedCoffee on Feb 10, 2010 at 04:03:29 pm #
"I guess what grates me most about this whole thing is Herwat's comment that some of these folks are doing the jobs of two and three people."
Yes, the sources of that claim. From today's Blade story :
Steve Herwat, deputy mayor of operations, said the top-level employees were entitled to raises from promotions and because many are performing work that used to be handled by more than one person."[Bell] has reduced staff, and people need to get paid for what they do," [Wilma Brown] said. "I don't think you are going to be seeing that kind of raise anywhere right now, but they are doing the work for two or three people."
Government is telling us that these city employees are now doing the work of two or three people. And government never lies. And government is never bloated. Government never has two or three people doing the job that could be handled by one person.
Maybe the new job duties of these city employees is the way it should have always been.
If they were able to take on double and triple the amount of work they were accomplishing earlier... then wtf were they being paid to do in the first place?
Bell is a double dipping politician taking taxpayer welfare.
"You have to pay competitive wages to lure competent, high-performing people". No shit. The city does a pretty good job paying a "competitive" wage along with their benefit package.
Pay them more is the answer? They have run this city into the ground. They should all take a 20% paycut across the board. Nobody is going anywhere.
No shit. You think the lady in HR with 30 years in is going to look elsewhere? Or those two admin assts? LOL! There was no threat of losing anybody yet he is throwing our money at them. Disgusting.
Hopefully, taxpayers will have the last laugh when we give a collective "Fuck you," at the polls.
<i>Government is telling us that these city employees are now doing the work of two or three people. And government never lies. And government is never bloated. Government never has two or three people doing the job that could be handled by one person.
Maybe the new job duties of these city employees is the way it should have always been.</i>
And after some time has passed, they'll hire those two or three people to fill those positions because it's far too much work for one person. And the two or three new people will have to have a comparable salary to the one who's already there. So, instead of having one over-compensated person, we'll have three or four.
valbee, that has already happened. It's called Toledo.
Toledo's budget deficit has grown [pdf]. Instead of $43.8 million, it's now $48.2 million.
Everyone in my department is doing the work of 2 people. (Open positions weren't filled due to attrition, and on top of that the team's workload has increased.)
Did we get raises to compensate for our extra workload? Nope. Hell, I was grateful that we still got our 3% "cost of living" adjustment this year. (Actually, I'm grateful to have a decently salaried position to begin with and consider myself lucky, despite the increased stress level/workload at my job.)
I hope the Toledo voters are wise enough to turn down the tax increase. Even though I don't live in the city and can't vote, I work in Toledo and will get stuck paying for it as well if the voters pass it. (At least the TPS proposed tax increase only applies to people who live in the district. I assume that Bell's proposed increases will apply to everyone who works in Toledo?)
An easier to read version of Bell's 2010 Toledo Budget Forecast Update. A couple of excerpts:
This larger 2009 deficit figure, along with a need to add $1.3 million to the Solid Waste budget to address costs associated with the conversion to automation and handling of recyclables, has increased the budget deficit we must address in the 2010 Budget to $48.2 million.Please find attached a document that outlines $13.6 million in expenditure reductions, and $12.0 million in revenue increases. Even with these changes, which reduce the deficit by $25.6 million, our 2010 Budget is still out of balance by $22.6 million.
Our employees, including union members, elected and appointed positions, and our court employees must grant concessions in order to balance the 2010 budget. I have proposed a total of $16.66 million in concessions in the General Fund, including eliminating all pension pickups ($6.70 million), having employees pay twenty percent (20%) of their health care costs ($2.86 million) and a ten percent (10%) wage reduction ($7.1 million). These cuts would be applied to employees across the board in all funds and all agencies.
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
From the Blade story:
Properly compensate city employees even though the "company" has a $43.8 million deficit, which Bell wants to help shrink by taking more of our income.
I wonder if any local businesses have had to implement salary freezes to stay afloat, especially businesses who are spending more money than they're bringing in.
Nothing is changing. May as well had Czarty at the throne. At least the C-man was good for a laugh.
posted by jr on Feb 09, 2010 at 09:40:43 am #