CITY HALL RAISES, TOO?
Board may look to follow Legislature’s lead, hike pay
Hard on the heels of a controversial Beacon Hill pay hike, a Walsh administration board is quietly laying the groundwork for the mayor to dole out hefty raises to top city officials that could go into effect this fall after what is expected to be a hotly contested mayoral election.
The city’s Compensation Advisory Board, which was appointed by Mayor Martin J. Walsh, will soon hire a consulting firm to examine the “adequacy of salaries” for department heads and Walsh Cabinet officials who are not covered by union pay structures. The board will then make recommendations to Walsh, who has the power to approve or dismiss them.
Twenty of those positions are grouped into six-figure salary ranges set by city law, and a 2013 recommendation from the board called for raising the ranges by roughly 10 percent. That would have increased salary ranges that previously topped out at $165,000 — a range that includes Corporation Counsel Eugene O’Flaherty and city CFO David Sweeney — to $180,000. But the recommendation was ignored by then-Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Walsh’s Cabinet has another 20 officials not covered under those salary ranges, including Chief of Staff Dan Koh, who made $156,560 in 2015; Chief of Operations Patrick Brophy, who made $142,000, and Chief of Policy Joyce Linehan, who made $144,200. Salaries for senior staff in the mayor’s office are generally set based on what similar positions receive in union contract raises, according to Sam Tyler, of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.
The board will review salaries of officials not covered by city law, although it is still determining who they will be. Mayoral spokesman Nicole Caravella said city officials were writing a request for proposals for consultants and the scope of new positions under review would be released when it went out for bid.
When asked if Walsh would make a decision on raises before the election, Caravella was noncommittal, saying, “The board can come back with recommendations at any time.”
The possibility of City Hall raises comes after state lawmakers, acting on the recommendation of a twoyear-old report to increase salaries, jacked up their pay by as much as 45 percent. Those raises faced heavy criticism and fiscal watchdogs said Walsh could face similar heat as he runs for re-election.
City Hall watchdog Joe Slavet said the Legislature’s brazen raises may have emboldened City Hall.
“There’s a tendency to follow the leader, they see what’s happening at the state level and maybe it’s giving them a little confidence to move this at this time,” Slavet said.
Chip Kaufman, a spokesman for Citizens for Limited Taxation, which spoke out against the Legislature raises, said, “These are politicians rewarding themselves, whether in the Legislature and in Boston City Hall, and they’re doing the same thing to the electorate, they’re shafting people while the taxpayers come up with the dough.”
Walsh’s five-member board is chaired by former City Councilor John Tobin, who replaced former chairwoman Deborah Shah after she abruptly resigned last year. It is required to review salaries and make recommendations every two years. The final report to Walsh, who is facing a challenge from City Councilor Tito Jackson, isn’t due until March next year. Tobin said he expected it would be ready “much sooner” than that.
Board officials said they expected to get their analysis back by late summer or early fall and would use it to make their own recommendations for Walsh. Even if he gets the report before the election, Walsh could wait to move on recommendations until after Nov. 7, Tyler said.
“The mayor has the full discretion to make a decision on raises whenever appropriate,” Tyler said.