Faust: Dover Charter should allow refusal of pay raises

What I found appalling is that some members tried to justify the yearly raises because they would be making less than the minimum wage if they did not get them.”

William G. Faust Jr. is a resident of Dover.

I attended the Dover City Council meeting June 9 and inquired about its members automatically getting yearly pay raises every time new budgets are approved. This is very wrong because most citizens do not get yearly increases in their individual salaries. I started to investigate this matter more when all the fees, utility hikes and tax increases were thrust onto the citizens.

At this meeting, Councilman Brian E. Lewis went on record and stated he wanted to turn down the last raise and was informed that he could not do so due to the city’s charter. Note: Councilman Lewis is taking his increase in salary and giving it to various charities each month. Council President Fred A. Neil also stated that he gave his increase in salary to charity.

Then, a motion was put on the floor to symbolically refuse this year’s raise, but it was withdrawn because of the Dover Charter. This motion is not dead but has to be researched more because of the way the charter is written.

What I found appalling is that some members tried to justify the yearly raises because they would be making less than the minimum wage if they did not get them. I have a problem with this for the following reasons:

• They are not full-time employees. Note: Most council members have full-time jobs, and some are retired.
• With all the revenue issues the city has and with the uncertainty of state and federal funding, how can they lock in yearly wages?
• How could council adjust the charter and make it difficult to stop council raises in future years without jumping through hoops?
• With all the issues facing the city, should this topic not be placed on a ballot to let the citizens decide what is fair?

Another appalling thing to think about is that the mayor and council can easily pass on fees, taxes and utility increases; however, it is an act of war or requires the need to do additional research to halt their yearly raises. This method of running the city is wrong any way you look at it.

I also heard in the meeting that fee increases are occurring all around us, but we are better off than other cities in the surrounding area. This is just a fancy way of sidestepping the issues facing Dover. Each city has different demographics and cannot be easily compared to ours. Like I stated before, I do not care what occurs in another city but care about the citizens here.

Therefore, I strongly urge the city to make the changes to the charter, so it is easier to stop or put on hold raises for council during difficult revenue times.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.