City Council member Matt Kelly proposes the city council should work for free starting next year, after Kelly retires and it won’t affect him.  It seems like it could be a populous sort of idea the general public will like, but I don’t think it’ll fly.  Of course the city council is kind of in a dither over this as in "how dare he talk about that?" sort of way and some seem seriously insulted.

The budget is somewhere in the $72 million mark and the council’s salaries add up to around $89,000.  That’s $12,000 a year for a council member and $13,000 a year for the mayor.  That’s some seriously low pay for a part time job.  After putting those numbers down I’m thinking maybe they need a raise.  No, don’t run with that.  Some council member will read this and think that’s a good idea.

I think Kelly’s heart is in the right place but to suggest others to go without pay, not even a pay cut, a total wipeout of their salary is a bit extreme.  Now if Kelly were running for reelection, won and donated his salary back to the city then I’d be impressed.

Kelly emailed me today thanking me for drawing him so slim.  I’ll remember that, Matt.  You might be retiring at the right time.

Here’s the rough.

See, Matt?  You were skinny in the rough too.