Unless you’ve been either living under a rock or trapped in the late ’80s, (where Reagonomics kept us all so safe) you know that SF has one hell of a budget deficit right now. It totals $306 million and as SFWeekly reports, has ushered in hundreds of pink slips to SF teachers and spawned proposed cuts to homeless services and health programs. But city officials are still getting significant raises, giving at least two mayoral candidates an opportunity to grandstand.
It’s a tough job running a city. So tough that, per the Ex, the City’s Board of Supervisors have approved pay raises for all 11 Supervisors as well as other city officials.
The mayor’s salary increases to $252,935 with a sweet $5,462 raise, while the city attorney stands to get more than $4,000. Supervisors will receive nearly $2,000, bumping their salaries up to $98,469.
While some officials are probably thrilled, D3 Supe David Chiu isn’t taking that raise lying down. The conscientious Board of Supervisors President and mayoral candidate tells the Ex he’s refusing the raise in hopes that his fellow coworkers will do the same.
Chiu tells the Ex “(w)hile it won’t balance the budget, we need to lead by example during these tough times.”
Meanwhile, former supe and mayoral candidate SF Weekly says they had “almost forgot about,” Michela Alioto-Pier “called upon” elected officials to follow Chiu’s lead and to give back the raises.
“The total amount saved by giving up the raises may be small compared to the deficit,” Alioto-Pier said on her campaign website, “but city leaders need credibility when they ask San Franciscans to make sacrifices. There have to be sacrifices at the top too.”
At publication time, however, no other officials have publically opted to turn down the bump in pay.
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