Posted on 12/16/2005 9:12:49 PM PST by Triggerhippie
MIAMI - City commissioners decided to raise Mayor Manny Diaz's salary by 54 percent in a last-minute vote that was not listed on the meeting agenda.
Commissioner Johnny Winton said he proposed the hike from $97,000 to $150,000 on Thursday because, among other things, Diaz was easily elected to a second term last month.
"Manny's done the most remarkable job of any mayor that we can go back and think of," Winton said.
Winton introduced the salary hike at the end of the meeting as a "pocket item" — a term for a last-minute, typically time-sensitive city action that is voted on without notifying taxpayers as is usually required.
"We would be probably rightfully criticized" if a resident complains about being shut out of the process, Winton said. "But he's still worth the money."
City Manager Joe Arriola said that if taxpayers get upset about not being allowed to speak, "That's their problem." He said pocket items are not unusual, and that five came up on Thursday alone.
Commissioner Tomas Regalado said he was surprised when the proposal came up, but he did approve it.
"It's a good policy to give him a raise. It's a bad policy to do it this way," Regalado said.
Diaz said he had no part in the raise discussions and learned about it while watching City Commission proceedings from his second-floor office.
"I was shocked ... just sort of speechless," Diaz said.
Voters have repeatedly rejected higher salaries for city commissioners, but they do not vote on the mayor's salary. The commission took control over the mayor's compensation in a 1997 charter change.
"Why didn't they just do it normally — advertise it, let people comment?" Miami resident Horacio Aguirre told The Miami Herald. "Do you really think this just came up spontaneously this morning? ... They just feel they own the town and can do things the way they want to."
This article contains some of the goofiest quotes I've ever read.
Maybe we need some air freshener in here. :)
Another politician helping himself to more taxpayer money...
I am shocked, just shocked, that those nice fellas gave me a huge pay raise.
Might these Democrats be just a teensy weensy bit ARROGANT?
We didn't ask the voters to comment. If they don't like it, that's their problem.
Eventually, what goes around comes around. When it happens, it will be real entertaining to watch.
It is the AP. When you start out with a reporter who is half-way to becoming an idiot-savant, then add paper and pen, goofy quotes are what you get.
I understand this author's Journalism School Senior Thesis was titled, "Dang, them pins is pointy!"
Go back and learn how to talk.
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