|
|
|
|
For Immediate Release,
Monday, November 23, 2015
|
|
|
|
Contact:
Dick Dadey, 917-709-2896
|
|
|
|
|
|
Citizens Union Supports
Elected Official Salary Increases
Increases Must Be Accompanied By Significant Compensation
Reforms That End Lulus and Limit Outside Income
|
|
Citizens Union today announced at a public hearing of the city’s Quadrennial Commission its support for salary increases for city elected officials, and proposed reforms to be made in conjunction with such an increase.
Its support for an increase rests on the demanding responsibilities placed upon most of our elected officials to manage a complex operation city government with a budget of $73 billion, and the myriad of constituent services these elected officials are called upon to provide, as well as the lack of an increase since 2006. Citizens Union noted, however, all of our current 64 elected officials were elected in 2013 or 2015, knowing full well what the salary for their office is for the four-year term.
Citizens Union proposed that the following reforms must be tied to any salary increase:
- Salary Increases Must be Prospective for All Offices – this is supported by 37 current councilmembers, as well as Mayor Bill de Blasio, according to Citizens Union’s candidate questionnaires. Currently serving Councilmembers should not vote themselves a raise, and the structure of the system that puts them in that position needs to be changed. The Quadrennial Commission should also recommend that future commissions meet in the last year of the four year term of city elected officials so that any recommendation for prospective salary increases would take effect upon the start of the next four year term.
- Council Salaries Could Be Increased to Approximately $143,00 With These Reforms:
- End Lulus for Committee Chairs – this is supported by 31 members of the City Council. Committee chair stipends otherwise known as “lulus” should be abolished and kept for only truly senior leadership positions like the Speaker and Majority Leader. Currently, lulus range from $5,000 to $25,000. Given the large number of committees – 38 – in addition to 6 subcommittees and 2 task forces, the addition of a stipend applies to nearly all members, and likely has driven the large number of committees. Many members have also forgone their lulus due to public pressure to reform this system.
- Cap Outside Income to No More Than 25 percent, with Full Disclosure – Eliminating outside income altogether for term limited offices is not be advisable given the goal of attracting candidates with varied private sector experience; however, providing a limit will help to prevent potential conflicts of interest arising from outside income.
- Financial Disclosure Forms for Elected Officials should be made available online – Currently financial disclosure forms detailing outside income of officials must be requested from the Conflicts of Interest Board and viewed in person or photocopied, and are not available electronically. Further, officials are notified of requests for this information. This is antiquated given the city’s work to open data to the public through online portals and otherwise promote accessibility, and runs counter to the practice at the state level. The information from the disclosures should be submitted electronically and be made available in spreadsheet form to allow for independent analysis.
The full testimony can be found here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
