Bloggin’ on the Edge

Posted by Scott Spielman at 2:00 AM | Comments

Last week, Wayne City Council members got their first real look at the budget proposed for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

It contains, among other things, funding for a new fire truck and some new police cars and money for pay raises for city department heads.

I will never argue against needed expenditures that will help our public safety personnel do their jobs better and promote safety for themselves as well as residents.

Pay increases for department heads are another matter entirely, though. This is not the right time for that.

It’s a shame, too. I know them all, talk with them fairly regularly and I believe they’re all a hard-working bunch. I wouldn’t question the dedication they show for their respective departments or the city as a whole. In fact I’ve often thought that the city is lucky for the dedication they have shown to their jobs and their community, since most city department heads could make more money elsewhere.

I understand the justification for the increases, too, and the loyalty and qualifications of the department heads is only a part of it. They have, in many ways, led the charge in cutting costs in the city. They’ve taken pay freezes in two of the past four years. They’ve volunteered to pay more for their own health care costs—the one issue that is truly killing municipalities and business in general here in Michigan. It’s because of these and other cost-cutting measures that the city is now in a shape to grant them salary increases in the first place. That’s probably the most encouraging sign of all.

In short, the money is there and the people may deserve it, but that doesn’t mean it should happen.

Next week, voters will decide on Proposal 1, a 1-mill levy for 25 years to fix city roads and sidewalks. Putting through salary increases—however minimal they may turn out to be—at virtually the same time you want to tax the people for road and sidewalk improvements doesn’t send a very good message to voters.

It’s the message I’m concerned about, more than anything else. I know that keeping department head salaries the same as they are now won’t generate enough money to fix the roads and sidewalks—far from it. It will help save some money, true, but probably not enough to take on any one significant road project, let alone the many that are needed throughout the city.

This is just a different time. We can no longer count on getting what we deserve just because we all make sacrifices in support of the bigger picture. If it’s any consolation, there are thousands of other well-qualified, hard-working people out there who deserve to be making more money, too.

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