Put the Mayor on Diet

How much is the Mayor willing to sacrifice in order to balance the budget? Looks like 1/20 as much as the City Council and 1/2 as much as he expects of city employees. The City Council voted to reduce their salaries by 50 percent. The Mayor has proposed reducing City employee salaries by 5 percent. So how about his salary? He proposed a 2.5 percent cut.

The Mayor could easily reduce his salary to historical levels, especially given the current economic problems.

The Mayor must explain why he needs a $74,000 a year salary for a community of 21,370 when Meridian's Mayor is paid $70,000 a year for a city of 75,290. On a per capita basis, Mayor Bandy's salary is 272 percent higher than the Mayor of Meridian. Remember, as a City Councilman, Bandy voted to increase the Mayor's salary from $42,000. He then announced his candidacy the following week.

He is claiming that it would require passing a new a complex ordinance. He could call an emergency session like he did when he got his $500,000 loan in December. He could suspend the rules like he did when the Council voted to raise the Mayor's salary. Of course he could always simply donate a portion of this salary back to the City.

Many have suggested that $50,000 is reasonable. He could keep his generous $23,000 benefits package, netting him $73,000 a year in compensation.

The Mayor's office revised 08-09 budget was $118,631. He is now proposing a 27 percent increase up to $151,055. Last year the Mayor hired a full-time assistant. When the economy turned sour, he shared her with three other city departments. She spent 25 percent of her time working for the Mayor. He now wants her back to work for him full time. The taxpayers and the three city departments must sacrifice so the Mayor can have a full-time re-election campaign worker.

Of the Mayor wants respect and trust, he must get real with his salary and office budget. A commitment to reducing his salary to $50,000 a year and a promise to avoid TAN loans would go a long way to inspire public confidence.