mayor's pay raise

[Bill London <london@moscow.com>]

Vera White's INK column in the Daily News yesterday included a report on
the city of Moscow's budget.  INK reported that the mayor's salary (is
it now about $900 monthly?) will increase, almost double, in the budget
for next year to be discussed next month.
I thank Vera for publishing that information.
Why should the mayor's salary rise?  The job has not changed recently.
This is still a strong council system with a city supervisor in place.
My concern here is that the recent emphasis at City Hall on teamwork and
consensus has now become just another good-old-boy system.  The real
give and take of democratic discussion has been replaced with buddies
who find each other indispensible.  It reminds me of the boards
multinational corporations that constantly increase the salaries of top
corporate officers who constantly stack the boards with their friends.
What's missing is the process of democracy.
BL