Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Automatic Adjustment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Good-government groups back pay increase but warn automatic inflation "backstop" could gut public review
Summary
Citizens Union and Reinvent Albany told the council committee they support the commission's 18.2% pay recommendation but oppose a proposed automatic inflation-adjustment backstop that they say could remove public hearings and weaken qualitative commission review; they offered alternatives such as alternate appointment authority and greater transparency.
Two nonpartisan good-government groups told the New York City Council committee they support the Quadrennial Advisory Commission's recommendation to raise elected-official pay by 18.2% but strongly opposed a proposed automatic inflation-adjustment backstop that would trigger raises if a commission is not convened.
Grace Rao, executive director of Citizens Union, said Citizens Union "support[s] increasing all elected officials' salaries by 18.2%" but warned the automatic backstop in the draft could "effectively eliminate the incentive to convene quadrennial advisory commissions in the future." Rao recommended amending the bill to allow another citywide official, such as the comptroller, to appoint a commission if the mayor fails to do so by the statutory deadline.
Rachel Foss, senior policy adviser at Reinvent Albany, echoed concerns that an automatic mechanism would curtail public input and typical commission deliberations. Foss said the current process—when the council and a convened commission hold hearings—provides an important public forum. She urged the council to require the comptroller to publish an elected-official salary table and to pair any pay change with stronger financial-disclosure and ethics reforms.
Both witnesses said commission-based review is preferable because it permits qualitative judgment about whether a pay change is appropriate given the city's broader fiscal and policy context. Citizens Union also flagged a possible drafting error in the bill text that, if left uncorrected, might let an automatic adjustment take effect even when a commission did convene.
Public comment reflected a wider range of views: Christopher Leon Johnson, speaking during the public-comment period, argued for eliminating the ban on outside income and raising council salaries to at least $200,000 so that candidates who earn more in the private sector would not be deterred from running.
The committee did not vote; members and witnesses agreed that the drafting of any automatic-adjustment language and the appointment mechanism merit further review.
