QUINCY – Millions of dollars in budget items were approved Monday night at the Quincy Finance Committee meeting, but the big debate came over the proposal of the mayor to give himself a pay increase for the first time in ten years.
Longtime mayor of Quincy, Mayor Thomas Koch hired a company months ago to run the numbers when it comes to the mayor and city council members’ salaries.
$285,000 salary suggested
Currently, Mayor Koch makes just over $155,000 a year, but he has introduced a proposal to increase that annual salary by 79% to $285,000. The company found that the mayor of Quincy could earn as much as $370,000 a year. Koch’s team viewed his proposal as a compromise.
Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
“We think the number is fair and reasonable, and in line with a number of other communities, if not today, then in a year or two,” said Christopher Walker, the mayor’s chief of staff. “This job is a 24/7 job. There are no vacation days or sick days. The mayor is the mayor.”
Walker emphasized several times Monday that it is important to note that this pay increase is for the position and not the person.
Quincy residents are protesting the proposed increase
People who gathered out front to protest the pay increase pushed back against that claim, questioning why the pay increase would take effect at the start of the new year instead of the start of the new mayor’s term.
“He never talked about his salary as a campaign issue,” said Quincy resident Claire Fitzmaurice. “The idea that they have to pay a very high salary to get quality candidates is simply not true.”
All but one council member voted to move this proposal out of the Finance Committee and send it to the City Council for final approval. It’s worth noting that in Quincy, the finance committee is made up exclusively of city council members. The city council is expected to approve it within two weeks.
“I am deeply disappointed in the council’s spineless vote in favor of this outrageous amount,” said Claire Fitzmaurice.
“No one in the private sector gets that kind of raise in one year,” says Kathleen Kelly. “I think it’s outrageous.”
