Letter: Salt Lake City Council’s “woe is me” attitude is not justified
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
The city council recognizes outgoing City Council Member Derek Kitchen for his service to Salt Lake City District 4 and as 2018 Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Chair during the council meeting in Salt Lake City on Tuesday Nov. 27, 2018. Left to right are Andrew Johnston, Chris Wharton, Kitchen, and Erin Mendenhall.
It’s predictable that Salt Lake City Council members didn’t mention the issue of raising their own salaries until after the recent election.
In their self-authored argument in favor of the Streets Reconstruction Bond in the voter information pamphlet, they failed to mention their departmental budget has gone up from $2.5 million in 2014 to over $3.7 million in 2017 – a 48 percent increase in just three years. With this knowledge, voters may have questioned their “woe is me” attitude when it comes to not funding city infrastructure.
Voters should likewise question this salary increase proposal. If they feel future council members will be discouraged from running due to the pay, then they should only consider the increase for future council members – not for themselves.
Murry Mullenax, Salt Lake City
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