Council backs down on raises

Two City Council members who voted in favor of raising the salaries of the mayor and the council have changed their minds, which means the issue no longer has a majority of support.

Mayor Jerry Sanders had threatened to veto the raises, which were approved Monday.

The council could have overridden a veto by the same 5-3 majority that approved the raises, but council President Scott Peters and Councilman Ben Hueso issued a joint statement Wednesday saying that a controversy over salary increases for elected officials is “not in our community’s best interest.”

Hueso and Peters promised to move to have the council reconsider the raises, which would boost the mayor’s salary by 29% to $130,000 and a council member’s by 24% to $93,485. Raises had been proposed by the city’s Salary Setting Commission.

--

-- Tony Perry