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— News via Quincy Quarry News – News, Opinion and Commentary

Pigging out at the public trough?
An Easy Money Associates/Orion Pictures

Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch’s proposal for seeing himself score an 80% or thereabouts pay increase depending on how one counts things as well as late in his tenure as mayor and so also dramatically pop his high three years for determining his pension benefits has seen considerable mainstream media as well as social media attention.

In turn, much to most of the attention has been unfavorable, if not profoundly negative.

At the same time as well as In fairness, Quincy Quarry News can only properly point out the one clear positive in Mayor Koch’s breathtaking ask given the Quarry’s commitment to providing balanced and fair coverage: approval of the proposed greatly enhanced compensation package would end his receiving both the use of a city ride and a car allowance as perks.

Unclear, however, is if the IRS might have looked askance at the ostensible appearance of this possible double-dipping or at least would if so advised of Mayor Koch’s long receiving both.

In any event, as for the $126,000 pay increase per the Koch Maladministration’s arguably creative counting, the underlying so-called rationale for the proposed massive pay increase to $285,000 a year is clearly open to ready criticisms.

GET YOUR HAND OUTTA THERE!!!
A Vlad the Puppetmaster meme

For example, how the raise was prefaced by recommendations from a so-called compensation study conducted by a small out of state consulting firm with ties to Mayor Koch’s Director of Municipal Finance and thus so much for an independent outside review. 

Further troubling, the consulting firm’s principals admitted during their presentation to the City Council last month that compensation studies are not their thing and something which clearly shows.

For but starters, the consultants proposed a pay pop of somewhere between $299,000 — a salary which would see Mayor Koch paid more than all but a few major city mayors in the United State — to $370,00 and which is more than what is paid to ANY mayor in country as well as within spitting distance of the $400,000 salary paid to the President of the United States.

In short, so much for the use of proper compensation comparables during a comp study.

”Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod …”
An old picture of Martin Lomasney via Wikipedia

Further yet problematic as well as confirming of the consultants’ suspect competence, they conflated the political public service gig as a mayor as deserving of comparable pay to that of city managers as well as those working in “Chief Administration Officer” positions in the dreaded private sector.

So what for the facts that city managers must have all manner of professional credentials whereas a mayor has no such requirements as well as that Chief Administrative Officers face demanding performance expectations or suffer a quick hook.

Also note that city managers and public company Chief Administrative Officers are all but invariably not allowed to hire family and friends, much less hack hire those with open to question backgrounds for the jobs so hired.

Additionally, neither Chief Administration Officers nor city managers are readily allowed to use their positions to feather campaign fund war chests with funds gathered from special interests eager for special consideration, city employees, city vendors or any others otherwise solicited to shower down or face unmentioned consequences.

A million dollars, mas o menos
A file photo

Mayor Koch, on the other hand, was able to so fund a near-million dollar campaign fund war chest and thus all but assuredly was so able to score a successful reelection campaign bid last November. 

For a sense of a million spent on a reelection bid, a million is roughly twice as much as the next biggest spender running for mayor in Massachusetts other than by those running for mayor in Boston and which is seven times more populated than Quincy.

Above clear and substantial problems notwithstanding, it is from social media comes word of a especially serious to perhaps fatal problem.

The problem — if not multiple potential problems, arise care of Section 17A of the City of Quincy’s ordinances:

SECTION 17A. The mayor or city manager and the members of the city council shall receive
for their services such salary as the city council shall by ordinance determine, and they shall
receive no other compensation from the city. No increase or reduction in the salaries of mayor
or city councillors shall take effect during the term in which such increase or reduction is voted,
and no change in such salaries shall be made between the election of a new council and the
qualification of the new council. No ordinance providing for such increase or decrease in the
salaries of the mayor or the members of the city council shall take effect unless it is approved
by a majority of the registered voters of the city voting thereon at the next regular municipal
election.

In particular, read again the last sentences of Section 17A:

“No ordinance providing for such increase or decrease in the salaries of the mayor or the members of the city council shall take effect unless it is approved by a majority of the registered voters of the city voting thereon at the next regular municipal election.”

A smoke-filled backroom
A Cassius Marcellus Coolidge image

Granted, there is likely still time to put the proposed stupendous pay raise as well as intertwined retirement benefits popping proposal on the ballot next fall if the City Council approves the gobsmacking ask by the mayor for a raise and which is paired with a surely sotto voce incenting proposed 58% pay increase for city councillors.

At the same time, to date there has been no mention whatsoever by anyone officially tied to City Hall of the fact that per Section 17A the proposed mayoral and councillor pay raises are subject to approval by local voters.

Oppsy?
A still image from a Youtube video

Even more problematic are potentially already misdone deeds.

The potential misdeads: Quincy Quarry personnel do not recall a vote by locals when Mayor Koch scored a 23% raise in 2014 and which commenced in 2015.

Additionally problematic, Quincy Quarry’s latest unpaid but still overworked intern could not find a record of a general election vote by locals approving the 2014 mayoral and city councillors pay raise as required per Section 17A.

Digging up voters …
A file photo

Granted, perhaps the required vote(s) did happen even it (they) could not be found or perhaps Section 17A was not in force in 2014.

At the same time, Quincy Quarry was also unable to find voters asked to approve pay increases proposed for city councillors per City of Quincy budgets in FY 2016, FY 2023, and FY 2024.

Needless to say, all of these uncertainties as regards duly putting these raises on ballots for to affirm or not should be confirmed one way or the other before the proposed pay raises are accorded with any further consideration.

Looking at a wicked expensive haircut?
Image via social media

After all, if Section 17A was in force in 2014 but the required vote by locals approving that raise was not held, Mayor Koch has seen roughly $270,000 in pay come his way over the past decade that was not duly approved by local voters would pose ugly for him.

Seriously ugly.  

Similarly ugly, if Section 17A has been in force since 2014 somewhere on the order of as much as half a million dollars has been paid to City Councillors that would also appear to have not been duly authorized by local voters.

Needless to say, Quincy Quarry News’ growing legions of loyal readers can count on the Quarry to follow this story as well as report updates as appropriate.

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