Council President Wants To Lower Mayor's, Directors' Salaries

Council President Beth Mason introduced two new ordinances and a resolution right before Wednesday's meeting, proposing to lower the mayor's salary, the city directors' salaries and to change the contract the city has with Corporation Counsel Mark Tabakin and his lawfirm.

Mason proposed to lower the mayor's salary to the $100,000 range and lower the director's salaries—currently at $103,000 a year—to anywhere between $70,000 and $90,000.

Mason also proposed to change the amounts in the contract with Corporation Counsel Mark Tabakin and his law firm Weiner Lesniak. Assistant Corporation Counsel Melissa Longo said the city council was not allowed to take such action.

"(The) council does not have the authority to negotiate contracts," she said, adding that the city council was "overstepping its boundaries." The city council only has the power to approve—or not approve—a contract.

The ordinances and the resolution are attached to this story.

"The resolution is not proper," Longo said, "it shouldn’t be introduced."

For those legal reasons, the resolution was pulled from the agenda. The two ordinances—one proposing to lower the mayor's salary, the other introducing to lower the directors' salaries—were voted down in a 5-3 vote. Mason, First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano and Fourth Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti voted "yes" on the ordinance. Sixth Ward councilman Nino Giacchi as well as minority council members Ravi Bhalla, David Mello, Carol Marsh and Peter Cunningham voted "no." Councilman Michael Russo was absent.

The council minority criticized Mason for introducing the ordinances at the last minute.

"This is political grand standing," Fifth Ward Councilman Cunningham said.

In an interview after the meeting, Mason said she introduced the ordinance at the last minute, because of some "difficulty getting it drafted." She said that this is a topic she had been talking about for a long time, saying salaries need to be cut at the top. "This is not difficult stuff," Mason said.