Letter to the Editor: Former Dover council president opposes pay hikes

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Open letter to all Dover City Council members who voted themselves a pay increase:

Some may recall that I served as a Dover city councilman and as president of our City Council, so I have a perspective on the duties and requirements of those positions. My concern is for those current council members who have put their own interests above those of Dover taxpayers.

I appreciate the level of disclosure and transparency for city government notifying that my property taxes will increase; and the cost of my electricity will increase; and the cost of my trash and recycling will increase; and the rates for my water and sewage are increasing. Everything is costing more, as inflation consumes more and more of income.

The thing I don’t appreciate is that a majority of Dover City Council members voted themselves pay increases on top of all the cost increases they’ve levied on us. I have always felt it to be unconscionable for any public servant to feather their own nest.

Explanations provided by council members when voting themselves pay increases, such as pay comparison from city to city, are just a veiled ruse to raise their own salary; saying that their pay is too low to attract good people to run for City Council is another red herring; saying that they work hard, long hours is hollow and disingenuous at best because each person knew what a council member’s job entailed and what it paid when they ran for office in the first place.

I can’t overstate the audacity shown by the council members who voted to double their own pay during a time when our citizenry is suffering financially. I remind those council members that they took the oath to serve the citizens of Dover; they were to be good stewards and always consider the taxpayer’s interest first. The concept is to serve the people, not themselves, nor to see how much money they can make. I’m far too old and tired to do anything about this except voice my concerns and shame for all to see.

William P. McGlumphy

Ex officio Dover City Council president

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