As many of you know, last week, the Denver City Council voted to pass a pay raise for our city’s elected officials beginning in 2013. By ordinance, the current Council Members vote on pay raises for the incoming city elected officials.
During these difficult times, Carol Boigon could not in good conscience vote to give herself a raise while so many Denver families are struggling. Carol was the only mayoral candidate on City Council to vote against the pay raise. With the city facing a $100 million budget shortfall, and many Denver families having gone more than four years since their last raise, Carol felt that it was sending a poor message to the people of Denver for politicians to vote themselves a raise–even a comparatively small 6.6% cost of living adjustment. Currently, City Council members earn $78,000 a year plus benefits. Under the increase, this would climb to just about double the median income for a Denver citizen.
With city workers taking furlough days, and many other people struggling to find work at all, now is not the time for politicians to be giving themselves a pay raise.
Tuesday morning, Carol will be joined by City Auditor Dennis Gallagher in launching a grassroots petition calling on the 2011 municipal candidates to pledge to return their pay increases to the taxpayers.
If you feel the same way as Councwilwoman Boigon, Auditor Gallagher, and countless others who wrote or called the City Council and the mayoral campaigns to express their outrage, then please join us:
Stand With Denver Families: Say NO to Politician Pay Raises
Maltese Cross Manor
1590 Yates St. (16th and Yates)
Tuesday, March 29th
11:30 AM
Add your name to our petition, and let’s pledge to send the right message to the people of Denver by returning any increase in salary for elected officials back to the taxpayers.
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How much are Boigon and her husband worth again? Any chance you guys might be willing to release your taxes?
This attack is totally false. Neither Hancock or Linkhart is running for re-election. They will not see a dime of the pay raise.
is for the Council and Mayor. In fact, I’m sure of it.
You may not appreciate the use of the vote as a political tool, but this “attack” is not false.
Spend the time tomorrow learning how to register a website or something useful. Agree with GlassCup, this attack is bullshit, overhyped, and I’m pretty sure Boigon is NOT the one to be making it.
Why not Boigon? It’s not like this is a vote from ten years ago, they knew what they were doing. And none of the members are poor. So why not?
And because her campaign is BLATANTLY LYING.
Like the poster above said, this pay raise is not going to EITHER Linkhart or Hancock. Period. They aren’t running a again. They won’t see a dime.
But Boigon is losing, desperate, wasting money on a fools errand, she is willing to say anything to win. Too bad, because after she get’s crushed, she’ll just be a despicable former politician without a shred of credibility.
Let’s be real. If Boigon wasn’t loaded, she would be less relevant than Theresa Spahn. And in a month and a half, she will be.
Moreover, she only notes that the other candidates voted for it. The entire Council is getting it, it’s not good timing. Six of the current members are running unopposed. They gave themselves a raise.
Isn’t Boigon one of the At Large members? Do you know what that means? THAT’S why she’s more relevant than Spahn. Give Spahn time, she’ll be great. It’s too soon to run from her current position.
This kind of bullshit just makes me think you’re a shill. Just own it and stop pretending to care. Moron.
This is a legitimate issue that swayed me away from a couple of candidates. Pols’ diary was spot on about this.
I’ve mostly followed this issue on Pols and commentary, and in a sort of secondary way at that. I understood it just as a pay raise for the city council. I was wrong about that, and for mis-stating the facts, I apologize.
That said, it doesn’t fundamentally change my thinking, which I think gets at a deeper issue about the vote, and let me first just say that this “issue” has really annoyed me.
A.) There are lots of issues where candidates have made missteps.
B.)In a race where all of these folks have complicated bios which I’m sure are full of lots of potential negatives (I for one am going to see what I can find about Boigon on the Googles), some candidates did something relatively politically inept as part of the process of governing.
This singular issue should not be used – in the absence of interest – to define this race. If we’re serious about observing and commenting on this race – and just not being a series of opposing-aligned shills (which, speaking for myself only, I am not) – then I hope we do better than simply rehashing this.
If it comes down to it, I’ll happily defend Linkhart and Hancock’s votes – for much the same reasons the Post did:
http://www.denverpost.com/opin…
But I feel like it doesn’t and that would be of relatively little interest to folks.
And more importantly, I want to say this: I feel like the implication that either of them would in any way be influenced by this salary bump in seeking the mayor’s office is an entirely dishonest distortion. Both of them want to be mayor for their own policy reasons, and anyone with a brain knows that this attack is false. I’m relatively disinterested in talking about whether it is politically smart. I concede it isn’t, but I think we can be a better forum than simply repeating that. And in so much as we can use this forum to debate the politics of questions, we also can and I think must use it to discuss the veracity of them. And this attack – and the Boigon campaign’s association with it – is low, despicable, and desperate.
So, that’s what I think.
Again, you may disagree with this being used as a political ploy, but it doesn’t change the actual facts. No one said that they are seeking a higher office for the pay raise, I merely pointed out that that statement is factually correct.
Although that “better forum” that I suspect is meant to make me feel badly for your lack of actual interest and research does seem a little rich. You know, since you still haven’t actually found a “false” attack here, defended the vote (wrong thread anyway), or actually explained what’s wrong with using a policy to “define” an election or candidate.
I stand by my hate of shills and think you still are one. That’s what I think.
This is the 2nd time in this diary you’ve pulled something whole cloth out of your ass. You’ve already had to apologize for getting it wrong once.
Now you’ve got it wrong twice. Where does she suggest this in the diary?
Oh, that’s right. She doesn’t.
Look, I’m sorry one of your favored candidates screwed up and made a very bad vote. Own it. Stop blaming other people, stop spinning your bs and just own it.