New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Alders, Harp at odds over raises
Mayor criticized for spending in wake of 11% tax hike
NEW HAVEN — More than three-dozen confidential and executive management personnel took home some hefty paychecks last week.
Retrocactive raises handed out by Mayor Toni Harp total close to a half-million dollars over two years.
Mayor Harp claims the city does not have a spending problem. We do have a spending problem. Issuing the raises is one more proof point of this problem.”
— Alder Abby Roth, D-7
It is a move that has again sparked a fight with the Board of Alders and criticism that the raises are not fiscally responsible and her decision lacked transparency.
The awards, which were given to 37 individuals on June 15, are split between retroactive payments of $245,636 for the current fiscal year and an equal amount for fiscal 2019, which begins on July 1, for a total of $491,272, according to an aldermanic analysis.
The mayor said she has
the ability to give raises without going to the alders as long as they are within the salary range approved for the position.
Alders disagreed, citing a city ordinance that requires aldermanic approval if a “transfer of appropriation” increases “the total annual salary estimate.”
Laurence Grotheer, spokesman for the mayor, said there is an “honest difference of opinion” between the board and the mayor.
He said the raises will be taken from the contract reserve account, which was listed as having $1.84 million for this fiscal year and $1.8 million starting on July 1.
Executive management and confidential employees usually get their raises after Local 3144, which covers professional staff and managers, sign an agreement.
That union pact has been approved by the alders.
It extends from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2020, with no salary increase for fiscal 2016; a 3 percent raise for fiscal 2017, but no retroactive money; 2 percent in fiscal 2018, retroactive to July 1, 2017; 2.25 percent in fiscal 2019; and 2.5 percent in fiscal 2020.
The members of Local 3144 also received the applicable raises last week.
Alders plan to formally investigate the raises apporved by Harp, citing the lack of communication from the mayor on this issue as the 2019 budget was developed and reviewed.
One alder in leadership said there were more than a dozen meetings with the
administration as the budget was being worked on and these raises were never discussed.
“In light of the unexpected increases of the Mayoral Executive Management and Confidential Employees that should have been communicated to the Board of Alders, the budgetary authority of the city pursuant to the Charter and the Code of Ordinances, we have begun a formal investiagion. As a board we take our responsibility to our constituents very seriously and we will be taking appropriate steps based on our findings,” aldermanic leadership said in a statement.
Harp has said some of workers who were given raises had not had one in four years, although others have.
Grotheer said the raises account for 1.5 percent of the $547 million budget approved for fical 2019.
As for medical benefits, they mirror what was agreed to by Local 3144. Pension contributions, as well as a payment toward retirees’ health care costs, are also applicable.
Alder Anna Festa, D-10, in East Rock, wants to know whether the workers’ personnel reviews justified the raises, which would be the requirement in the private sector.
She is upset that the raises were not transparent and were awarded at a time when residents just got their tax bill with an 11 percent increase, while the city has to deal with a major projected deficit.
Alder Abby Roth, D-7, had a similar reaction.
“It was fiscally irresponsible of Mayor Harp to issue the raises and a complete insult to taxpayers.
The city is severely struggling financially. Taxes are increasing 11%. Because we have a projected $14 million deficit this fiscal year, our pension funds are being underfunded by millions. Mayor Harp claims the city does not have a spending problem. We do have a spending problem. Issuing the raises is one more proof point of this problem,”
Roth said in an email.
“Mayor Harp’s lack of transparency by issuing the raises after the budget was passed is unacceptable,” Roth said.
Alder Steven Winter, D-21, also weighed in.
“The mayor just raised taxes and raided pension funds: the City should be moving to address its enormous structural budget deficit, not doling out executive raises,” he said in an email.
The new salaries apparently
will be reflected in the final budget document that goes to alders when fiscal 2018 is closed out.
A total of 21 people were given 7.50 percent retroactive raises; some had 2 percent retroactive raises, but previously had received other raises .
The largest retroactive raise, in terms of a percentage increase, was given to executive administrative assistant Susan Baldwin, who works in human resources. Her salary went from $51,466 to $65,826, a 27.9 percent increase.
Her boss, Stephen Librandi, manager of human resources and benefits, had a $14,213 jump this year for a new salary of $111,425.
Migdalia Castro, who heads elderly services, got a 12.31 percent raise from $65,000 to $73,000; Michael Gormany, the new budget chief, got a 10.49 percent
increase from $116,751 to $129,000.
Grotheer, who has not gotten a raise since he joined the administration, now makes $88,756 up from $74,755 — an 18.7 percent increase.
Out of this group of 37, Corporation Counsel John Rose’s salary is the highest at $161,250, up from $150,000 for a 7.5 percent increase. This is followed by Dr. Byron Kennedy, who now makes $155,875, also a 7.5 percent increase.
Jeffrey Pescosolido, who heads the Public Works Department, was given a $9,375 raise to $134,375; Serena Neal-Sanjurjo, the Livable City Initiative director, now makes $115,500, up 5 percent.
Darly Jones, the controller, like Gormany, now earns $129,000, a 10.49 percent increase; Matthew Nemerson, head of economic development, was given a $9,000 raise to $129,000, as was Chief of Staff Tomas Reyes.
Engineer Giovanni Zinn now earns $130,414, up $9,099 or 7.5 percent; Building Official James Turcio’s salary is $111,125, up $7,753, while Acting Assessor Alex Pullen was given a 7.5 percent raise to $117,955.