The Democratic Town Chairman, John McNamara, is at it again. This time he is railing against the fact that Republican Aldermen Mark Bernacki and Lou Salvio gave back 5% of their pay. Yes, that is right, he is criticizing the Aldermen for giving money back to the city. It is rather unbelievable, so here is the direct quote from the Herald:
“The position of the Mayor and Alderman Salvio is the height of hypocrisy given their support for 5 percent pay raises for the Mayor and other officeholders during the budget making process this year,”
McNamara also criticized the Mayor for taking pay increases over the past two years. Perhaps Mr. McNamara forgot that the Town Council is currently controlled by the Democratic Party and any raises the Mayor received were the work of his own party. Furthermore, as Mayor Stewart stated in the Herald article, the Compensation Committee of the City Council did not even meet this year. To quote the Mayor, “I haven’t had a raise [this year] and I’m not asking for one.”
Majority leader Michael Trueworthy joined McNamara in criticizing Aldermen Salvio and Bernacki, saying “It’s interesting that this comes up five weeks before an election.” However, in a reply posted in the comment section of the Herald Article, Alderman Bernacki stated:
Alderman Salvio and I proposed a 5% across the board cut in all city departments, including the Mayor’s office and Common Council in May. Additionally we stated since the Mayor and City Council were asking for concessions from City employees we felt it was appropriate to give a concession of our own. A 5% cut in our pay.
The democrats disregarded our request for cutting the Council budget and the budget was passed early June. I followed through with my commitment to return 5% of my pay in July. I don’t know where this “5 weeks” spin is coming from.
Once again the Democrats are left with a situation of their own making. They did not do the right thing back in June and take a 5% cut in pay, no matter how symbolic a gesture, with the rest of the city budget. Now that their actions have seen the light of day, rather than admit their mistakes and work to make it right, they seek to blame and accuse others. Come November we can only hope that the good citizens of New Britain vote for change in the city council and send John McNamara a message that the time for blame and showboating are over, and the time to do real work has begun.
The Democrats voted for the increase 2 years ago, with the hopes that their candidate would win that years election. With that candidates’ financial woes, would he have taken a 5% decrease in pay? I doubt it!