The Atlanta City Council is in the early stages of considering a proposal that could increase their salaries by nearly 75 percent.
The recommendation also includes major pay increases for the mayor and the Atlanta School Board.
The compensation committee, which was appointed by the City Council, mayor and school board, said the increases come because these positions will become full-time and should reflect what comparable cities pay for those positions.
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But some Atlantans think it’s too much.
Under the recommendation, Atlanta School Board members would receive a $40,000 raise.
City council members would collect an additional $55,000 and the mayor would receive a $68,000 salary increase.
Councilman Howard Shook is retiring and will never see any money from the proposal.
He said the increase comes with a change: City council members should become full-time employees to run the city more like a business.
“We are simply going to put aside the fiction that this is a part-time job. This is a full-time job,” he says Channel 2’s Michael Doudna.
Quinton Washington chaired the committee behind the recommendation.
He said the raises are intended to ensure that anyone who wins the position can afford to work full-time and live in Atlanta, while also trying to make the jobs more attractive.
“It’s a recognition that we have to pay for good elected officials,” Washington said.
Most Atlantans will never see a 33 to 130 percent increase, especially in public sector jobs.
And most Doudna residents are having trouble squaring these wage increases while still seeing problems in the city.
“Fixing the streets, cleaning up the neighborhoods, the drugs, the shootings and the police,” one resident said.
“The way you solve the city’s problems is to have a more responsive government. And the way you get a more responsive government is by knowing that your elected officials are working full-time,” Washington said.
The proposal still has a long way to go as it must become law and go through several meetings.
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