Council swings, misses on pay raises

Dreadful pay is just one of the obstacles discouraging good people from running for elected positions in Nevada.

At the legislative level, where pay doesn’t even come close to the minimum wage, lawmakers are already derided enough without having to consider raising their pay in an anti-tax climate.

Meanwhile, local elected officials are still viewed more for the recent bribery scandals than for any honest work.

The public largely opposes any increase for these perceived political “fat cats” to the point where only politicians with personal wealth — or those double-dipping at the public trough — can really make ends meet in elected office without severe personal sacrifices.

State lawmakers often go through legislative sessions wiping out their savings to pay for COBRA health insurance. Las Vegas City Council members have long griped about the wear and tear traveling their wards puts on their personal vehicles.

There’s no doubt raising salaries could entice better candidates to enter local and state government races.

But the question really is how much. And as the baseball playoffs began Wednesday, the council swung and missed.

The City Council, which always seems to be trying to keep up with the Joneses down on Grand Central Parkway, introduced a massive salary increase Wednesday. Under the ordinance, the mayor’s salary would climb to $124,000 and council member pay would increase to $72,000 in the coming years.

That’s not just a meaningful raise, it’s a whopping increase of more than 50 percent at a time when city revenues are off.

Increases in the area of 15 to 20 percent would be more realistic and respect those in office for their commitment. But 52 percent increases are ludicrous.

City Council members are just small chiefs, elected by an embarrassingly small number of people, who tell the real city bosses — the city manager, department heads and staff — how to steer the ship. The city’s always had a Chicago ward-heeling style of governance.

And such parochial minutiae were prevalent Wednesday.

Mayor Pro Tem (don’t call him councilman) Gary Reese presented a proclamation in honor of Code Enforcement Month by asking the department rep to do something about a car with “for sale” signs that has been parked in his ward “for weeks.”

Councilman Steve Wolfson reminded everyone there’s a Veteran’s Day parade in five weeks and implored City Manager Doug Selby to do whatever the city could to promote the event. “Think outside the box,” Wolfson urged.

Both Wolfson and Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian also asked Selby for a report on the status of $5,000 grants the city offered teachers to offset living expenses. That’s a largely unused gimmick that the council members are hoping shows voters they are strong supporters of education.

Mayor Oscar Goodman cheered planning month (it’s also Fire Prevention Month) by singling out planning commissioners who “have not asked for a salary raise.” Goodman also said the planning commissioners deserved a raise, “a car allowance and membership in an exclusive country club.”

All of this occurred as Selby soberly reported a fourth consecutive month of sluggish sales tax revenue. Sales are down because of the high rate of foreclosures, he said.

But the council seemed more interested in Selby’s recent trip to Washington, D.C.

Selby reported Rep. Barney Frank will introduce a bill re-legalizing Internet gaming. Goodman giddily saw it as a linchpin in the effort to court professional sports and said he personally wanted to fly back to lobby the Massachusetts Democrat on how important his measure is.

The $600-a-month car allowance included in the salary ordinance would help Goodman pay for gas to McCarran. Council members would get $500 a month for a personal vehicle.

In response to Goodman’s request for the raises, staff provided some cover in the form of a business impact statement that somehow suggests the raises would have no affect.

Goodman and Reese are both term-limited in their positions and would not receive the higher pay. The rest of the council members would see raises if they win re-election to their posts.

Thankfully nobody made the argument Wednesday that paying council members more would make them less likely to accept bribes. We must really be growing up in Las Vegas.

The council should examine the pay raise carefully during an upcoming committee hearing. A decent increase could go a long way to helping recruit good candidates, and to reward those in these largely thankless jobs.

But doubling salaries and throwing in car allowances to boot is neither in the city’s best financial interest, nor would it guarantee anything other than more electioneering from the dais by the current crop of officeholders.

Erin Neff’s column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.