by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
In a day and age in which sports draft picks still demand outrageous salaries and bankrupt financial institutions are still doling out mega-bonuses, the concept of a self-inflicted pay cut of 50 percent is alien.
That’s exactly what City Council member Art Shad wants to do.
“It is, I think, imprudent, impractical and bad for City Council to consider cutting the pay for hardworking City employees when we are drawing full-time salaries for part-time work,” said Shad, who is sponsoring legislation that proposes the salaries of Council members be cut in half and their medical benefits eliminated. “Until we can fix the inequity, how can we take one penny from them?”
In an effort to make up a budget hole that’s in the tens of millions of dollars, Mayor John Peyton has suggested an across the board pay reduction of 5 percent for all nonpublic safety (police and fire) positions and furloughs. Those proposals were necessitated by the Council’s recent decision to reject Peyton’s proposed millage rate increase. As a result, it will be up to Council — and primarily the Council Finance Committee — to find between $50 million and $90 million in savings, depending on who you ask.
Shad’s bill was introduced to Council last night and assigned to the Council’s Rules and Finance committees. So was a bill sponsored by Council member Ray Holt. He’s looking at cutting salaries as a way to help shore up the budget issues facing the City for the 2009-10 fiscal year. But, Holt’s vision is broader and not as drastic.
Holt’s bill proposes a 2 percent pay cut for all elected and appointed officials. That list includes Council, the mayor and his appointees and the constitutional officers.
Aside from who the bills affect and to what degree, both bills are potential solutions to the budget shortfall. But, that’s where the similarities end. Shad’s bill would affect the Council until the pay rate is altered again and save the City about $700,000 annually. Holt’s bill, he says, represents a one-time savings of $8 million.
“I’m sure there will be lively discussion about it,” said Holt of Shad’s bill. “I don’t think it’s reasonable. I think my bill is reasonable.”
Shad said he hasn’t discussed his legislation with any of his fellow 18 Council members and he hasn’t gotten any sneers in the Council hallways yet, either.
“I am sure I will get some tonight or in committee,” he said.
According to Shad, it costs the City about $1,000 a month ($228,000 a year for 19 Council members) to insure a Council member. Shad, who works for Morgan Stanley and is insured by them, said he has talked to Steve Rohan of the Office of General Council about waiving the health insurance.
“I was told I can’t waive it,” he said, adding in six years in Council he hasn’t used the City insurance for himself of any of this three kids.
Shad said he understands many Council members over the years have treated the position as a full-time job. He hasn’t and he doesn’t think his district is suffering.
“I work about 20 hours a week at the most at my City Council job and I know I serve the San Marco area well. You could spend 100 hours a week on it if you wanted to,” said Shad, who chairs the Rules Committee. “I would argue that the framers of our Charter did not envision this as a full-time job. Somehow it has grown into a full-time job with significantly higher salaries.
“It’s time to have this conversation. I hope we have a good debate. That’s $700,000 we won’t have to cut from the full-time employees.”
Holt said his objective is also to send a message to the police and fire unions. With collective bargaining negotiations on the horizon, Holt wants to demonstrate that he and others are willing to do what it takes to assure the city doesn’t suffer.
“I have talked with several policemen and firemen and they said they are willing to help,” he said, adding the police and firemen indicated they understand these are unprecedented times in the history of Jacksonville’s consolidated government.
“We need to be reasonable and 2 percent is reasonable and I defend it and I will,” said Holt. “The bill sunsets in a year (Oct. 1, 2011) and then we will reassess.”
Who makes what?
The following are the current and proposed salaries of the mayor, the constitutional officers and City Council. The salaries are set by the State and although the annual 3.5 percent raise hasn’t been approved by the State, the City has budgeted for the raises
356-2466