Baltimore City Council Pay Raise-Time for Electoral Reform? Headline from Tuesday’s Sun: “Silence from City Council translates into pay raises”. “Without discussion, a vote, or mention on its official agenda”, by not voting to deny itself a pay raise, the Baltimore City Council voted itself, and the next Mayor, a pay raise.

You can’t make this stuff up.

So next fall’s each newly elected member of the city council will get a $9,000 pay raise that will take salaries from $48,000 to $57,000. The City Council President will see her salary go up $18,000 to a whopping $98,000 a year, and the next Mayor will see her or his salary go up $23,000 to $148,000.

Ok, maybe the Mayor should get a raise – it’s a tough job. But, for the Council and Council President, it is hard to justify such a large increase. Isn’t this supposed to be a part-time position? In a city where murders are once again on the rise and students continue to badly under perform, instead of spending $189,000 on a pay raise, the city could have used the money to hire four more cops, or send 15 kids to private schools.

Unhappy Baltimore voters, if there are any (the Sun reported that only one came to a hearing to protest the raises), could decide to vote out of office those who allowed the pay raise to go through. The reality will be that most of the city council members will be re-elected. So you can depend on more of the same from a council that is unlikely to change much after this fall’s election.

In a previous column, I wrote that it would be good for the city to have someone with a business background and record of achievement in another field enter the race to bring a fresh perspective to solving the city’s problems.

Our electoral system makes it too tough though. So maybe it is time for some reform. Baltimore is a one party town. The democratic primary determines the winner and the general election is a formality. Turnout in Baltimore City elections is abysmally low – less than a third of eligible voters decide for the rest of us. This virtually guarantees that incumbents get re-elected, and reinforces the feeling that nothing really changes. Maybe the problem isn’t voter apathy but that voters feel disenfranchised.

There are ways to reform our electoral process so that voters can feel more engaged. One is to make the “primary” election non-partisan, include independents, and have the general election be a run-off between the two highest vote getters. Another is to have an open general election with instant runoff voting. A third would have voters vote for a party; seats in the council would be apportioned proportional to the vote that each party receives. This system is used widely in other countries and allows for more voices to be included in the political process.

Whatever the outcome, let’s start with a debate on how we can reinvigorate participation and attract new people and fresh ideas.

Labels: Baltimore City, pay, politics

  8:59 AM •