Between the Pines…

By Susan Goldbeck, editor and publisher

P.G. voters, in a remarkably short time, have put on the ballot for a public vote the question of whether the 130% raise that Mayor Smith recently led the City Council to give to themselves should be approved.  This referendum easily qualified for the ballot in June with a large signature cushion. It seems as though Pagrovians needed little urging to have their say by way of a vote on this issue.  Ironically, this effort was led by an organization calling itself Citizens for a Transparent P.G., which was spearheaded by three former P.G. City Council members and a former mayor. Yet another former City Council member, Susan Nilmeier, summed up the overwhelming attitude of the voters, “I say not only no, but hell no!” As a former City Councilmember myself, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I add my voice to the chorus.

Most folks felt that the issue should have been put up for public vote in the first place. The Council had that option. It didn’t sit right with voters that the Mayor and Council members should be voting on their own raises!  Mayor Smith is now wants medical benefits for himself and the Council. ‘Guess that means this benefit will be extended to part-time city employees, a major budgetary hit for a city already seriously in the red.

Mayor Smith and his band are repeatedly crying poor, telling us that we can’t afford things as decent lighting at some of the cave-like exhibit rooms at our museum. The City can’t afford to maintain Chautauqua Hall, they tell us, and so the public needs to support that effort as well. Indeed, citizens have stepped up to help the City with its landscaping and other beautification issues, which have been in bad shape for years.

It’s true. P.G. is in financial hot water and has been for some time. The City Council received a dire report just three weeks before they gave themselves a substantial raise this spring, that the City is in debt to our employee retirement fund (PERS), to the tune of 57 million dollars, plus another 5.5 million dollars in bond funding. And, unlike cities like Monterey or Marina, we have no capital improvement fund, none.  And, our liability insurance premium was just raised by a whopping 30%. Most importantly, the Council learned in this reporting that the City will be in a deficit situation for at least the next few years. So, I ask  Mayor Smith and the rest of the  City Council this:  is this the time to vote yourself or anyone else a raise?

The City Manager last year got a hefty hike in pay when he left Marina as its Assistant City Manager and took the top job with the City of P.G. He may have done a good job in his new post his first year, but for right now, the Council should have just said no to a raise. In my view, deserving or not, there should be a freeze on all raises until we at least get on the path to financial stability.

We don’t pay our Planning Commissioners or other board members; these are public servants who are there to benefit their community. This has always been how the service of the Mayor and City Council has been viewed. The small amount of money they do receive is meant as a stipend for incidentals, not a salary.

Prior to the election, Mayor Smith was in financial deep water himself, and he apparently felt he needed a hefty raise and a benefit package to serve as our mayor. If that was so, he should have told us that when he asked for our vote. Hard times can happen to anyone. But, he didn’t tell us about his situation and his intention to raise his salary, because he knew folks wouldn’t like the idea. And from what I’ve heard, they clearly don’t.

Look for Pagrovians to give this boondoggle a hearty thumbs down!