City Government
Appearance Really Matters
August 28, 2005 
In its ongoing quest to garner public confidence and support, the Boise city council offers this little gem in the agenda for the Tuesday August 30 meeting:
“FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD READING OF AN
ORDINANCE FIXING THE SALARY COMPENSATION FOR
BOISE CITY MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS; PROVIDING
FOR A WAIVER OF THE READING RULES; AND
PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.”
What that means is they are going to give themselves raises (paid by citizen/taxpayers) with as little public scrutiny as possible. The law says all ordinances have to be read three times and approved by the council in public session, but if you are the ones making the laws, you make your own rules.
Raises will go into effect AFTER the November election, but three of the councilors and the mayor will benefit regardless of who wins. Rather than risk putting you to sleep, we can tell you they are getting about the same 3% raise the rest of the city worker bees are getting. Which of course means the higher paid city officials get bigger raises than those struggling at lower wages–but remember the little guys can’t “waive the reading rules” either!
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