The mayor held a public hearing to hear objections to the increase. He now plans to sign the law and increase his salary along with the salaries of the common council and the auditor.
Transcript
Dillon Brendle: It was a notably quiet room as Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh got the green light to go ahead and raise his salary along with other top city representatives. The Mayor’s salary will rise from 130-thousand dollars to 150-thousand.
The Common Council President’s pay will rise from just over 35 thousand dollars to 38-thousand dollars.
The rest of the Common Council will see a just over three thousand dollar yearly bump.
And the auditor will get a raise of just over one thousand dollars. Walsh vetoed a salary increase back in 20-19 but says this time is different.Mayor Walsh: “The money is in the budget and we did recently complete a compensation study where we did look at a number of positions including the positions that are the subject of this local law hearing, so I think its been done properly and therefore I intend to sign.”
Brendle: The mayor was required to have a hearing for public comment, but at 10:30 in the morning no one showed up.
Mayor Walsh: “With no one being here to speak I will officially declare this public meeting closed.”
Brendle: Though there wasn’t an audience in city hall behind me to witness these changes Mayor Walsh did explain how the city does try and get vital feedback form residents.
Mayor Walsh: “Social media, we try and engage people regularly. I go through piles of mail everyday, as well as email. So we try and make ourselves as accessible as possible.” “It’s been fairly quiet.”
Brendle: Dillon Brendle NCC News
Syracuse N.Y. (NCC News) — It was a notably quiet room as Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh got the green light to go ahead and raise his salary along with other top city representatives.
The mayor’s salary will rise from $130,000 to $150,000. The Common Council president’s pay will rise from $35,020 to $38,000. The rest of the Common Council will see a just over $3,000 yearly bump and the auditor will get a raise of just over $1,000.
Walsh vetoed a salary increase back in 2019.
“The money is in the budget and we did recently complete a compensation study where we looked at a number of positions including the positions that are the subject of this local law hearing,” Walsh said explaining why this time was different. “I think it’s been done properly and therefore I intend to sign.”
Walsh wants pay to reflect the value of the roles and to be more comparable to other communities.
The mayor was required to have a hearing for public comment, but on Tuesday morning, no one showed up, leading to a swift conclusion to the meeting.
“There’s a lot of channels in which we try and engage the community,” Walsh said. “Social media, we try and engage people regularly. I go through piles of mail every day, as well as email. So we try and make ourselves as accessible as possible.”
When asked if he had been hearing feedback on this latest law Walsh said things had been “fairly quiet.”
Walsh has not signed the law yet but said he intends to.