7/25/2019 Worcester mayor takes automatic pay raise

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Worcester mayor takes automatic pay raise

Above, Mayor Joe Petty and At-Large Councilor Mike Gaffney square off in a debate during the 2015election campaign/Worcester Magazine file photo

Mayor Joe Petty said he has accepted the pay raise automatically available for every city councilor,

despite the vice chair asking colleagues to join him in not taking the pay hike.

I took it, Petty said of the raise when speaking to a reporter an event Friday night, Feb. 5.

He and other councilors had until Friday to indicate whether they would accept the raise they are

entitled to under the citys salary ordinance.

Two city councilors had indicated earlier this week they would reject the pay raise.

Vice Chair Mike Gaffney, who had already posted on his Facebook page he and Petty had promised

during their campaigns last year they would not take the automatic pay increase, restated his

intentions at a Council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Im trying to clarify, Im not challenging anyone, Gaffney said after saying it was up to his colleagues

to make their own decision. It was a campaign promise I made.

Petty pointed out he had not committed to rejecting a pay raise, saying he instead had balked at a

proposed $10,000-salary increase put forth by former At-Large Councilor Joe OBrien.

To be clear, Petty said, I didnt make a promise.

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At-Large Councilor Moe Bergman also said he would not accept the raise.

In a memo to councilors, Dori Vecchio, assistant human resources director, ttold they were entitled

to a raise from $29,000 to $31,444.

The last time councilors accepted a salary increase was 2008.

The salary ordinance was enacted Aug. 20, 1996.

Councilors voted, 8-3, to amend the ordinance in 2007.

At the time, the salaries of the mayor and councilors had not been increased since July 1, 1987,

when the mayor was given $20,000 and councilors $17,500.

The salaries were reduced in 1992, with the mayors salary decreasing by $2,000 to $18,000.

Councilors annual earnings dropped to $15,750.

The amendment adjusted the mayors salary to $34,000, effective Jan. 10, 2007, while councilors saw

a hike to $29,000, as of Jan. 1, 2008.

In every even-numbered year after, the salaries would increase by the percentage change in the

Consumer Price Index.

The mayors salary remains higher than other councilors. Petty said he believes his salary will now be

$36,000 a year.

Walter Bird Jr. is editor of Worcester Magazine. Call him at 508-749-3166 or email

wbird@worcestermag.com. Follow Walter on Twitter @walterbirdjr and friend him on Facebook. Youmay also catch Walter every week as a panelist on WCCA TV 194s Rosens Roundtable. Walter may

also be heard with WCRNs Hank Stolz on their new podcast, Hank and Walter on Worcester,

available every week athttp://worcestermag.com/and on Soundcloud.

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