Pam's Points: Commission plays with raise idea again

Staff file photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- A Hamilton County Commission meeting.
Staff file photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- A Hamilton County Commission meeting.

Who supports Trump?

What is wrong with this picture?

ISIS, the KKK and North Korea all have endorsed an American presidential candidate.

Of course, it's Donald Trump.

"I ask Allah to deliver America to Trump," a supporter of the Islamic State declared recently in an Arabic-language posting, according to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

And the magazine, Foreign Affairs, quotes jihadists explaining that Trump would say and do such crazy things that he would end up helping extremist groups.

Kristof also found Trump endorsements from North Korea: "Trump is not the rough-talking, screwy, ignorant candidate they say he is, but is actually a wise politician," a columnist wrote in a North Korean propaganda magazine, DPRK Today. The Korean columnist approved of Trump's threats to withdraw U.S. military forces from South Korea and wrote "Who knew that the slogan 'Yankee Go Home' would come true like this?"

Of course, we already knew he had the support of the Ku Klux Klan. Just ask David Duke.

And we know that Russia and China prefer Trump become the resident of our White House.

Again, let me ask: What's wrong with this picture?

Commission plays with raise idea again

It looks like some members of the Hamilton County Commission are trying to sneak their way to raises again.

A story in Thursday's Times Free Press said the commission could significantly boost the pay of its chairman and chairman pro tempore this week when it also elects those same officers for the next year.

County Attorney Rheubin Taylor described the measure as a matter of "housekeeping" during Wednesday's commission meeting. The topic drew immediate criticism from Commissioners Joe Graham and Tim Boyd because it re-establishes an old law that has not been followed for nearly 20 years.

"I understand that this was a law on the books, but when this law was on the books, the rate of [commissioner] pay was only $6,000 a year," Graham said. "It makes a big difference."

The chairman and chairman pro tempore currently earn 30.6 percent and 15.3 percent above the base commissioner pay of $22,230, or $29,040 and $25,633, respectively. If the commission approves this measure during its Sept. 13 meeting, the new chairman and chairman pro tempore salaries would amount to $31,122 and $28,899, respectively.

The measure would result in increases - and back pay - for anyone serving as County Commission officers over the last six years.

Boyd said he's all for correcting the confusion between law and memo - a memo that tied the two salaries to adjustments matching that of the county mayor so that commissioners could avoid appearing to vote themselves pay raises.

"We need to correct the resolution to reflect current policy, and the current policy's been in effect for 17 years," Boyd said. "I'm in total agreement with that."

But other members of the commission have been angling for raises for quite some time, now. In February 2015, commissioners privately circulated a letter to send to state legislators that would disconnect their pay from the mayor's office and allow the body to establish its own pay scale. At the time, commissioners stood to make at least $25,000 based on the county's population. Graham criticized the maneuver, citing lack of public discussion, and did so again when another letter emerged in December.

This looks like a similar move - just one or two seats at a time. On Wednesday, after the meeting, Commission Chairman Chester Bankston, Commission Pro Tempore Randy Fairbanks and Commissioner Sabrena Smedley all voiced support for the measure, though Fairbanks and Smedley said they would be willing to consider alternatives.

Commissioners, please get over your reticence to talk to the public and take a vote that the public can hold you accountable for. Maybe you do need a raise.

But that's not the point here. The point is that your constituents need you to be upfront and honest with us - discussing that need and discussing any proposed raises in public, then voting on them.

Stop hiding behind some law or some memo. And urge your attorney to stop insulting us - or protecting you - by calling a raise a "housekeeping" measure.

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