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http://www.wbaltv.com/politics/18245976/detail.html?treets=bal&tid=2652480377813&tml=bal_8pm&tmi=bal_8pm_-1_07000112102008&ts=H

Mayor Sheila Dixon

Critics Question Elected Officials' Upcoming Raises
Raises Come Amid Other Administrative, Overtime Cuts

POSTED: 1:51 pm EST December 10, 2008
UPDATED: 7:25 pm EST December 10, 2008


BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's mayor, the city comptroller and members of the City Council are getting raises, and some critics said they're not happy about it. Meanwhile, officials in other counties were set to get raises, as well.

City Hall is calling the 2.5 percent cost-of-living raises bad timing, WBAL TV 11 News reporter Lowell Melser said. They were approved last year by an independent committee and were again approved last month during a meeting of the Board of Estimates.

The five members of the board include Mayor Sheila Dixon, Comptroller Joan Pratt and City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Dixon will receive a $3,700 bump and Pratt and Rawlings-Blake will get a $2,400 increase. City Council Vice President Edward Reisinger will get a $1,575 boost and the rest of the City Council will receive a $1,145 raise, according to the city.

Each abstained from voting on her own salary.

Board documents described the raises as "salary adjustments" for several specific pay grades but did not list the job titles.

The raises were granted at the same time city leaders are freezing pay for some city administrators and cutting overtime for police and firefighters.

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, who will get a raise, said the board should step in and do something because when the raise decisions were made, the country was not in a recession.

"I admire the leadership of the city, but I'm disappointed and concerned about the increase in cost-of-living," Clarke said.

The head of the city fire union said they also have a problem with the raises.

"As a union official, I don't begrudge such increases and don't want to upset our friends at City Hall; however, I would submit the timing is poor and perhaps the process was dubious at best," said Steve Fugate, president of the Baltimore City Fire Officers Association.

However, Dixon lashed out at critics and did her best to explain how the raises came about.

"We tried to create a process that took us out of it, so we didn't make the decisions, and the voters voted on it," Dixon said, referring to a time in 2006 when voters approved a City Commission on Elected Officials, which was an independent body that would decide on City Hall raises that -- if not challenged -- would become law.

The mayor also dispelled rumors that the raises were some sort of undercover deal. In the documents explaining the raises, elected officials were represented by numbers rather than their names.

Dixon said by law, they have to accept it, but if any elected official wanted to donate their raise to charity, that would be OK. She said she'll accept the raise, citing her dedication to her work for the city and the fact that she has a daughter in college.

The raises will kick in starting in 2009. Dixon also pointed out that most union-backed employees in the city received a higher raise for 2009.

Other State Officials To Get Raises

City officials aren't alone in getting an automatic pay raise. Officials in other counties got raises, as well, the 11 News I-Team discovered, and some are also giving them up.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman is one of the highest paid public officials in the state, and he and his county council got an automatic cost-of-living increase of 4.9 percent earlier this month -- twice the amount of the cost-of-living increase in the city.

It raises Ulman's annual salary from about $151,000 to more than $158,000, I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller said. A spokesman said Wednesday that Ulman will donate the amount of the increase to charity.

In Montgomery County -- the state's wealthiest -- paychecks are heading in the opposite direction for some on the public payroll. Last week, county teachers agreed to give up a 5 percent pay raise set to take effect next year. It will save the county almost $90 million.

In Washington County, county commissioners recently rejected an $8,000 raise for future commissioners despite the recommendations of an outside panel, Miller reported. They said they couldn't justify it in the face of so much economic uncertainty.

At the state level, House Speaker Michael Busch recently suggested that legislators give up part of their salaries. He said it was only fair considering the furloughs being proposed for state employees.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is behind the furlough plan to help trim a state budget shortfall. He will also be furloughed, Miller reported. His salary is set by law for the duration of his term, and it's not subject to a cost-of-living increase.

Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith and his county council also have salaries that are set for a four-year term with no cost-of-living increases, Miller reported