Panel promises no increase in pay for Toledo mayor, councilmen

2/24/2009

Toledo s Salary Review and Recommendation Commission met Monday and quickly dismissed the possibility of pay increases for the city s mayor or 12 councilmen.

But the eight-member commission, which is required by city law to meet every four years, did leave open the possibility of pay cuts.

Williann Moore, president of the Toledo branch of the NAACP, said it would be unconscionable to hand out pay raises to the mayor or council when the city is facing a multimillion-dollar deficit and the Finkbeiner administration is laying off city employees.

Mary Karazim, a member of the League of Women Voters of Toledo and Lucas County, was elected chairman of the commission. She said the commission will compare the salaries of other mayors and the leaders of other organizations, such as the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.

The Toledo mayor is paid $136,000, and councilmen are paid $27,500 annually. When he announced the city s 2009 general fund budget, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner promised to cut his own salary by 10 percent by donating that money back to the city quarterly.

Also on the commission are Toledo attorney David Coyle; Lucas County Democratic Party Vice Chairman George Hillard; Lucas County Republican Party Chairman Jon Stainbrook; Jack Hollister, president of the Employers Association in Sylvania; Cheryl Riggs, also of the Employers Association; and Tim Gray of the Area Labor Federation.