Another Hub pay hike
Bill Linehan should have stuck around a little longer. The now-retired city councilor might have ended up with the fat salary that he so desperately sought for himself and his colleagues when he was serving as Boston City Council president — or at least close to it.
The Herald reported last week on a plan now percolating at City Hall that would grant pay increases to top nonunion city officials — including Mayor Marty Walsh, whose salary would grow to more than $200,000 a year, and his department heads, for whom salary ranges would increase by 15 percent (exact salaries would still be set by the mayor).
As for members of the Council, who gave themselves a 14 percent raise (a $12,000 increase, to $99,500) just two years ago, a cost of living increase of 4.5 percent under the new pay scheme would help them clear the $103,000 mark. Not quite Linehan’s original goal of $112,500, but close.
It was actually that showdown over City Council salaries that brought us to this point. Walsh, to his credit, vetoed the $20,000 raise councilors had voted for themselves. They compromised on a $12,000 increase, and the mayor also took the opportunity to revive the Municipal Compensation Advisory Board, which is supposed to make salary recommendations for city officials. It is that board that will now debate the new salary levels, relying on a report by an outside consultant.
We support the idea of a dispassionate analysis of city salaries. But it’s hard to argue that this board, whose members are appointed by the mayor, is truly dispassionate. As our colleague Joe Battenfeld pointed out last week, chairman John Tobin is a former city councilor, now a top official at Northeastern University, which relies on good relations with City Hall.
There is no reason to believe that Marty Walsh is in this gig for the money. At the moment he doesn’t even accept the full salary to which he is entitled; when City Council salaries went up the mayor’s salary was supposed to go up, too, but Walsh turned down the extra $24,000 a year. He now says he is more concerned about compensation for his professional staff than he is himself, and we believe him.
But it’s also true that the heat of that 2014 fight with the Council is off. Walsh was just reelected. The timing of this discussion can’t be coincidental. Walsh should tread lightly.