|
Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his wife, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Brady Preheim, Marty Rowe, President Elon Musk, President Trump, Jerry Falwell Jr., Mike Johnson, J.D. Vance, Vlad Putin, Ted Cruz, Kamala Harris, Trump’s MAGA followers, or my neighbor’s dogs. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Bill’s Standard Disclaimer
|
|
St Helens city council and mayor look alike Rolling in the dough, making more in stipends each month. More than the average SS payment Of their constituents.
Big Bucks For Mayor and Council
While the average Social Security payment in Oregon each month is $610. The city of St Helens city councilors receive approximately$1,100 to $1,300 per month for 2 regular meetings and two work sessions. Hours approximately 4 hours total. Simple math $1,300 divided by an average of 4 hours equals $325 per hour. The mayor makes over $1,500 per month which equals $375 per hour.
Now these folks will claim that they do a lot more than 4 hours of work per month. From personal experience I have witnessed that the councilors do not read their packets. These folks depend on staff to do everything.
When you vie for public service why do you need to be compensated? I understand if you have to attend an out-of-town meeting you can receive an allotment for food and hotel, and mileage. But to receive any payments for in-town meetings, is ridiculous. You knew what the job entailed when you ran for the position.
And to make much more each month than many of your constituents is pretty low. These councilors can make a motion to reduce their stipends any time they want. But why would they, when they have a cash cow.
With the city's apparent budget failure, a normal person would say hey we need to stop our stipends for the betterment of the city. Granted it would not solve the city's problems, but it sure would help in some way and show the citizens that these folks are willing to help out the city in any way they can.
Instead, it's business as usual, and like ostriches they will continue to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the important things around them.
I think the citizens need to address the council and request that they do away with the stipends, and adopt a monthly reimbursement with receipts of course and set a cap limit on the reimbursements.
Tammy
|