City-County Council Votes To Give Council Members 43% Pay Raise

UPDATED: The lame duck members of the current Indianapolis City-County Council delivered a middle finger to the taxpayers as their final act in office by voting to give next year's council members a 43% pay raise for their part-time jobs. Their vote in favor of the tax increase was 16-13. Their base pay will be raised from $11,400 to $16,400 thanks to tonight's pay raise.

Disingenuous members complained about how embarrassingly little their pay is, including my newly-re-elected council member, Zach Adamson. He complained that good people won't serve on the council unless the pay is increase. Phooey. These political animals are part of a system that does everything it can to erect barriers to keeping good citizens from having an opportunity to serve on unpaid boards and commissions, let alone the council. Both political parties block good people from serving on the council and do everything they can to defeat any council member who dares to think for themselves. Only empty suits with a false sense of self-importance are allowed to serve on the council.

Opponents of the pay raise like Christine Scales thought the timing of the pay raise right after an election was wrong, particularly when other non-union city employees have seen few, if any raises in recent years. One council member complained that members are not reimbursed for the cost of attending meetings, which is an outright lie. They are paid per diems of $112 for attending council meetings and also receive additional pay for attending committee meetings, which adds approximately an additional $5,000 to their annual pay. They also receive free health insurance. How many part-time jobs offer free health insurance? Or how about participation in a pension plan? That's not counting all of the freebies they get totaling in the thousands of dollars a year they receive in the form of free meals and tickets to Colts and Pacers games, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and concerts. I'm unable to account for the bribes a number of them take since our federal and local prosecutor refuse to prosecute this corruption, but there are a number of them known to take money or jobs for themselves or other family members in exchange for their votes on the council.

These people knew what the job paid when they ran for office this year. Not a damn one of them told the voters they believed they were underpaid and were going to be seeking a 43% pay raise as soon as the election was over. By their vote tonight, the council members who voted for this pay raise earned the enmity the voters have towards them. I frankly have reached the conclusion that this council, in particular, is a waste of money. They've sat by and watched, and in some cases approved, the theft of hundreds of millions of our tax dollars over the past eight years. It's time to just do away with these carnival barkers altogether and put the money we waste on them to use elsewhere. They sure as hell aren't interested in representing their constituents.

Voting for the pay raise: Adamson (D), Clay (D), Evans (R), Gooden (R), Gray (D), Hunter (R), Jackson (D), Lewis (D), Mansfield (D), Mascari (D), Miller (R), Moriarty-Adams (D), Oliver (D), Osili (D), Simpson (D) and Tew (D)

Voting against the pay raise: Barth (D), Cain (R), Freeman (R), Hickman (D), Holliday (R), Lutz (R), McHenry (R), McQuillen (R), Pfisterer (R), Robinson (D), Sandlin (R), Scales (R) and Shreve (R)

It's interesting that Councilor Jeff Miller (R) protested when Councilor Mary Moriarty-Adams introduced the resolution with him listed as a co-sponsor, insisting that he had never given his support to the resolution. How many times has Miller been caught voting opposite the way he speaks in public? Miller whined that he couldn't afford the cost of day care for his son. The fake Republican speaks with a forked tongue.