By: Diane Benjamin
“We have to keep making progress” is one local talking point. Progress to what is never revealed – just progress.
Last night City Manager David Hales got another raise.
The logic used was to compare salaries for towns the size of Bloomington – all in Illinois. Evidently Renner believes Hales will leave for more money.
It is no secret that Illinois rates high on the corruption scale.
It is no secret that Illinois is fundamentally bankrupt.
Maybe comparing City Manager salaries in well-run states would reveal more about why Illinois is a disaster.
Who decided it was a good idea to hire a manager unfamiliar with the local ways, allow him to attend international meetings at taxpayer expense, and then implement the ideology learned there on the local level?
Given a choice, would you choose to live in Illinois or Indiana?
Indiana has NO City Managers. Mayors are elected to run the cities, not a stranger hired from a 1000 miles away.
How much are Mayors paid?
See this link from November 2014: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2014/10/27/indianas-highest-paid-mayors/17769963/
Fort Wayne population: 254,555 – the Mayor’s salary is $127,289
Carmel population: 83,656 – the Mayor’s salary is $118,673
Indianapolis population: 834,852 – the Mayor’s salary is $102,620
Keep reading – none of the mayor’s get close to what City Managers earn in Illinois. Last I heard, Indiana was stealing jobs from Illinois and their economy is much better. Taxes are lower and housing is cheaper.
Bloomington can abolish the City Manager form of government, all it takes is a referendum.
Of course, somebody would have to explain to the Council that a mayor isn’t managing a multi-million dollar corporation and shouldn’t be paid like a CEO, especially when budget don’t balance and no spending priorities are set.
If Indiana mayors of much larger cities manage to eek by on much less, a Bloomington mayor could too.
Did you get your property tax bill in the mail today? In Indiana it would be less than half. (per friends that moved there from here)
One more note about Indiana, they ended collective bargaining for public sector unions in 2005. If workers love their unions so much, why did most quit paying dues?
The tell tale signs are there. When it’s all said and done, Hales will make Hamilton look like an amateur.