Wednesday, March 23, 2011

My Open Letter to Mr. Hogan on the Dover City Council

This is in response to letters Mr. Hogan posted in the State News (March 22nd) and in the Dover Post (March 23rd).




Mr. Hogan. According to the City itself, the pay increase from 2010 to 2011 for city employees totaled about $735,665 for full time workers. The payroll for full time workers in 2010 was about $17,874,917. That means that the average salary increase for a city employee just this last year has been about 4.1% Sure, that includes step increases for some and promotions for others, and probably some salary reductions from new hires.... but all of it is a pay increase, paid by the city taxpayer. I haven't seen that kind of increase in my income for a very long time. How about you, sir? From what I understand, we are on track this year to award similar raises to City employees, most of whom live outside of the City (they're the smart ones, that is for sure). Do you think that we can continue to add 3/4 of a million dollars to the budget each and every year for salary increases? Come on, Mr. Hogan, stop trying to defend this extravagance. Maybe you just don't understand the problem. Or maybe you are just trying to defend your own questionable decisions. How much was the annual budget for the City when you came to Council? I know that since my councilman (Mr. Ruane) has been working on council, the budget has just about doubled. He's a nice fellow, but I wouldn't want him managing my personal finances. We appreciate most City employees and nobody wants to see anybody suffer, but my pay is going down as quickly as theirs is going up. We can be a lot more fair to taxpayers while providing a fair, living wage (with MODEST raises) to our employees. The City needs to change the way they spend tax dollars, and I don't think that you really understand that. I would like to thank the members of Council that had the courage to address this issue, and I regret that they have upset you.