As WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb reported, the council speaker called reporters to City Hall on Thursday after a Daily News article alleged a number of council members had been holding secret meetings to engineer a pay raise from $112,500 to $192,500.
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“Well the amount that’s been portrayed in the paper of 192-thousand-dollars is outrageous and ridiculous”, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said. In return for the enormous pay hike, the council members are reportedly seeking to make the position full-time and agree to other ethics reforms, including the end of stipends for chairing committees. “It’s not something that I support”.
Fritz Schwarz, chairman of the three-member Quadrennial Commission, said the group will look at a range of factors when deciding whether or not to dole out raises. “I’m not sure who the press is talking to and who’s talking”.
The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, which represents rank-and-file police officers and choose arbitration to settle its contract, expressed fury that its members may get a 1 percent retroactive raise for each of two years while the council gets much more. “The council members did legitmately want this conversation”. “That’s a normal part of the deliberations”, the Speaker said.
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Most council members approached by The Post said they hadn’t heard any talk of pushing for $192,500, while several suggested it was simply a botched bid by rogue members to influence the commission. After that the City Council will have to vote on the recommendation before it goes to Mayor de Blasio for final approval.
