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January 7th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Maybe they can give Bernie Patrick Murphy’s $15,000 salary for the next two years! I would love to know if Rita has received a raise in the past 3 years from the state.
January 7th, 2010 at 7:00 am
As a city employee who has not received a raise in 5yrs and knowing others who have given up raises to save jobs I think the CM can wait until times get better and once everyone starts receiving raises then he should also.
January 7th, 2010 at 7:10 am
I don’t believe that the CC actually approves pay raises for the City’s union employees. As the City administrator, I think that the CM is responsible for the contract negotiations. The CCs approval isn’t necessary for union contracts (at least not as it is related to pay). Does anyone know if this is the case or not?
As for the non-union employees, the CC voted that they are to receive raises yearly into the City’s ordinances. However, I don’t believe that any of them have received raises in several years either. If we really want to be fair, then we should make sure that this is done equitably. Especially when you consider that many of the non-union employees run departments that have been hard hit with layoffs, have taken on extra work loads, and work just as hard as the CM.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:02 am
Spindlesister:
I thought all contracts were approved by the CC. If that is the case, then they approve pay raises; no?
January 7th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Henry:
I agree the CM should receive a raise when other City employee gets theirs.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:45 am
The City Council approves all Union contracts which include any adjustments to compensation.
Since union and non-union personnel have not received raises and have taken furloughs and assumed more responsiblities due to layoffs the Manager should be in the same boat. It’s like treating one of your children better than the others. It only causes resentment and problems.
That’s not to say the Manager doesn’t deserve a raise. I think he does. Unfortunately timing dictates many things. CEO’s of companies that were bailed out by the government learned that lesson the hard way when they gave themselves bonuses and raises and made the front page of every newspaper across the country. The Manager needs to be pragmatic and see the big picture here. I’m sure there is a raise in his future, just not right now. He will weaken his negotiating position with the unions if he takes a raise right now. I trust he’s smarter than that.
Tightening of the belt must start with the top.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:12 am
In the Federal Gov’t, there are GS ratings. It is a stepped program that pays you according to pay grade and time in service. So, a GS-14 with 10 years in makes less than a GS-14 with 20 years in. The Federal Wage table determines pay. Those wage tables are set annually. Sometimes there are wages increases. Sometimes not.
A professional city gov’t would establish a programmatic approach that would apply to this CM and his successors. Haggling terms from year to year or CM to CM seems complicated and possibly open to corruption.
If the City establishes a competitive prevailing wage structure for the CM position, it will always attract talent.
Fringe benefits are formalized too, but this is where rewards can be offered when appropriate. When there is gravy, share it through the fringe benefits. When times are tough, one’s living is stable and predictable.
Lowell should solidify the postion of CM by establishing the terms and conditions of employment. Surely the role and responsibilities of the CM are concisely written?
As long as Lowell is winging it, we will continue to have such troubles.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:41 am
At a cool $145k/year Bernie can wait until those making far far less get their fair increases! What kind of message does it send when a person making that kind of salary gets an increase while those with much lower salaries have to wait? I know he’s entitled like everyone else, but c’mon where will the money come from? He said he’s looking down the road anyway…so I don’t think he has an issue waiting.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
The Manager has gone without a raise since he came here in 2006 and has a proven record of accomplishment. This has ocurred while almost every other employee has gotten an increase. My reading of the Sun article and previous comments is that he is aware of the political and fiscal realities. The shame is that the prior Council didn’t address this issue back when times were better but we all know what was going on then.
The other shame is that we’ll probably lose him and his administration if a better deal comes along. We’ve seen his commitment to the City but that can only go so far before he has to think of himself and his family.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
I believe the motion was to discuss the process of negotiating a contract not about compensation.
How did the whole topic get started? Oh right…Councilor Mercier…
Where on earth did she get the idea that the CM would be expecting a raise anytime soon?
Don’t the councilors know the election is over for 2 years? Do we have to listen to them editorialize about something they are NOT going to do?
UGH!
January 7th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Jack’s got some good points. But I doubt we’ll ever think that long term, in this city.
My big issue with CM raise/not raise versus the city employee salaries this year is that the CM has not gotten a raise since he started, whereas the rest (I don’t know who commenter #2 is but it doesn’t seem likely that someone has gone 5 years without one, especially if they are a union employee) or most of the rest of the city’s public servants have. And frankly, the CM has to put up with a lot more crap and responsibility. Now, times are tough and people are complaining that he might be given one in future negotiations while the rest of the city employees are not (or getting less of one anyway)? I dunno, that kind of seems unfair. The CM is damned if he does, and screwed (has seen his real salary diminish with inflation) if he doesn’t. Thanks to the last Council (as Huh says) who, as they were about to be elected, forced the hand of 2005-06’s Council just before the 2007 election, in case the majority shifted. That was a good move at the time but it also means that now we have to deal with a manager who might start to see other jobs as a better deal if this keeps going for too much longer.
Now, I think it might be a nice gesture to make a tiny increase, just some small token of appreciation for making sure the CM doesn’t move on in search of more pay for taking less crap. He accepted the last extension on his contract with NO raise for god’s sake. Hell, make it .5% or something stupid. Or make his contract extend for more than one year but negotiate the raise to be in the second year, since we all think (hope) that the downturn is behind us by then. If I recall, the contact comes up this June for renegotiation right? So this is an issue we have to face, we can’t bury our head in the sand.
And keep in mind folks, if Bernie is not getting a raise, Superintendent Cassin over at the Lowell Tech High got his generous contractual raise and now makes more than $40K above, I believe, what the CM does. For a tiny fraction of the responsibility.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
while i have been in the city for 20 years, this manager by far is the best,this whole arguement is really all about nothing, rita opened her big mouth as usual about a raise that the manager never asked for, however his contract runs out in 6 months. the smart move is to start a framework for a new one, thats it, even the manager said he understands the times we are in are difficult but i would say i hope the council can lock this guy up for more than a year, why not 3 years? a little stability would be nice, he has proven he can do the job, and do it well even in the worst of times, bud, rita and rodney will be against it but that will always be, bernie is not a good ole boy thank god for that
January 7th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
What? No passionate pleas to hire ‘I know municipal finance’ Sullivan?
January 8th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Is there any way we can acquire the roll call vote results from when Manager Lynch’s contact was discussed. I can’t recall everyone’s vote from the time. I can remember a few but the council had different members then. (Martin-yes,;Caulfield-yes; Elliott-yes) after that its a blur. I think George Ramirez may have been on the council then but I’m not positive. I honestly can’t remember how Rita and Armand ended up voting. I remember them speaking against contacts in general. But I don’t remember the final result.
To say automatically assume that certain members will be against a contact extension is premature. Two of the three members that are referenced in this blog voted for the contact the last time around. Since we don’t know what the new terms will be, which may include not include a raise, I think judgement needs to be reserved.
Just because Rita was able to steer the discussion to the raise topic doesn’t make it set in stone. It was just political manuevering to put everyone on the spot. Making it appear that this new councils first order of business was to give the Manager a raise. She’s playing to her constituency. And that’s why she tops the ticket every single time.
I think we have to accept that some people are philosophically against contracts for Managers. There was not a contract for John Cox or Brian Martin or Richard Johnson. I think that opinion has to be respected if the person was consistent. These individuals may not have asked for a contract and that is their right. But to vote for a contract for one Manager and not another is inconsistent. But I don’t think that has happened. There was never a vote before the council for a contact for these prior Managers.
January 8th, 2010 at 10:12 am
I think the CM is merely looking towards bigger and better beyond what Lowell has to offer….as has been the case, the avg. life span of a CM has been right about 5 years…Bernie won’t be here much longer…he’ll look to go where there’s more $$$ etc…as for Jim Sullivan…he did a pretty good job for Lowell back in the 70’s and for Cambridge after that. He may be older and more feisty now, and sure he rambles, but he does know municipal finance.
January 8th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
It appears that at least 6 members of the current city council favor a contract for the city manager, and the other 3 (Caulfield, Mercier and Mendonca) may support a contract. So it may be reduced to a question of money.
It would be a mistake to take a hard line of “no raises”, as the idea that “we can find someone to do the job for the current salary” could lead the City backwards. However, with the financial situation as it is, and the lack of lower level raises, it would be difficult to increase the top salary at this time. It may be wise to develop a contract with both performance incentives and event-driven increases. The performance incentives would be based on items under the control of the manager, whereas the event-driven increases would depend on outside factors, such as State aid.
It is vital that the City grow its revenues without over-burdening the tax-payers, as retention of valuable employees will suffer if the City stagnates.
January 8th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
In fact, to Jack’s point, in the late 90s there was an ordinance that provided for what in essence were step raises for the manager. The idea, however, was not continued.
January 8th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
To bd’s point, the step raise ordinance still exists for all non union (ordinance personnel). I would hope that no one has lost sight that the department heads haven’t received the raise the ordinance REQUIRES them to receive in several years now. Not all of them are lime-a-loosers… many of them are as hard working as the CM.
January 9th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Why voters get rid of Rita and Bud when we had a chance? They will continually get in the way of progress
January 12th, 2010 at 11:48 am
CC Rita and Bud were returned to the council because a vast majority of the voters believe they’re doing a good job for the city. I’ve always said that if you don’t like the people on the ballot…simply don’t vote for them…then they can’t get in…SO STOP WHINING NOW! I happen to like both Rita and Bud.