Opinion: Editorial
Robb-ing the bank
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As a going away present to her fellow City Council members, Ald. Robbie Webber, District 5, renewed a discussion last week about increasing alder pay from part time to full time. Webber did not fully endorse such an idea at the present time but nevertheless sparked a discussion we feel compelled to contribute to.
So, where do we possibly begin addressing how terrible an idea this is?
Full-time pay would undoubtedly serve as an incentive for additional candidates to run. While there are certain districts that might be better served by more qualified individuals, the city is certainly not in a dearth of candidates or leadership. We do not believe salary should be the reason people run for City Council — it should be for civic duty and a desire to better Madison.
Some alders, like District 2’s Brenda Konkel and District 4’s Mike Verveer, have full-time jobs but still manage to serve their districts. Outgoing Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, is a University of Wisconsin student. In a comment on the Herald’s website, Webber said students have “flexibility” in their schedules, giving them greater opporunities to run. That may be partially true, but we doubt Judge’s professors rearrange exams and paper deadlines for him.
Finally, and most importantly, the timing of such a proposal could not be any worse. The city has not been exempt from the national economic crisis we face, and with budget cuts all but certain to come, such a costly proposal has no place in current budget talks. Robbie Webber’s leadership, although glib and self-serving, has always been relatively harmless. Here though, in her final swan song, she wades into the truly dangerous.This is a breathtakingly irresponsible suggestion.
Could this ever be a good idea? Maybe if the mayor wins the lottery, donates the money to the city, repaves every city street, beautifies every park, puts a cop on every poorly lit street downtown and still has money left over. Until then, we should count on city leaders to run for the right reasons.
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“the city is certainly not in a dearth of candidates or leadership.”
Only 6 out of the 20 alder seats have truly contested races. Do you consider 30% contested races a good number? Amazing that an editorial board could react so strongly against a mere suggestion. Perhaps the Herald can lay out what ideas are acceptable and which ones are dangerous and all future alders can confine them to what the Herald editorial board deems acceptable.
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About your attack on Robbie Webber:
All this, after you thoroughly sell out your student readers by championing an increase in bus fares?
I know Robbie personally, and she is NOT glib, nor self-serving. And for you to call a salary increase for 20 Alders “truly dangerous … a breathtakingly irresponsible suggestion” is considerably beyond hyperbole. You noted yourselves earlier in this hit-piece that Robbie “did not fully endorse” this “truly dangerous” idea, so why are you slamming her for it?
You say, “While there are certain districts that might be better served by more qualified individuals, the city is certainly not in a dearth of candidates or leadership.” I wish you were joking, but apparently you’re not.
You note that the economy isn’t doing so well. Nice of you to pick up on that. It didn’t stop you from favoring the bus fare increase. Who do you suppose that will impact? Your readers, some of whom really will suffer for it.
But why should this editorial be different from your ordinary knee-jerk right-wing flotsam? People who’ve been following Robbie’s work as an Alder will know that we’re losing an excellent one because she isn’t running for re-election. Your bias is blatant, and you should be ashamed of using your position to mount this dishonest attack on her.
Norm Littlejohn Madison
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Norm Littlejohn 7:54am:
“All this, after you thoroughly sell out your student readers by championing an increase in bus fares?”
Don’t all students get a free bus pass??
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This proposal might have been considered self-serving if Robbie Webber herself could somehow profit from it. But she can’t and won’t, since she isn’t seeking re-election.
Really, it’s only people on their way out the door who could ever be completely honest about the desirability of better compensation for city-council members, because any other alders would always be under suspicion of trying to feather their own nests. And the same idea coming from anyone who HADN’T served on the council would be met with scornful dismissals of “What do YOU know about it?”.