Wilcox Voice of Reason

2006 Elections, Bloomington, Richfield At a recent city council meeting Vern Wilcox demonstrated that he can be the voice of reason in the current times of fiscal difficulties for most Minnesota cities.

Members of the Bloomington City Council last week declined to increase their own salaries. But they approved a pay hike for Mayor Gene Winstead after most agreed that the demands of the city's top elective office had grown more complex. Winstead and the council members hadn't had a pay raise since 2002, observed Kent Michaelson, the city's human resources director. Current pay for a member of the City Council is $11,700 annually. The mayor's current pay is $18,700, but it will increase to $25,000 for 2006.

It has been well document that the State's budget woes have resulted in huge cuts of Local Government Aid (LGA) coming from the state to local city budgets. Why would the Bloomington city council vote 5-1 to give the mayor a 33% pay raise? Even if you consider that the mayor has not had a pay increase since 2002, a 33% increase could be split into 11% per yer over the last three. I am not sure about you, but I do not know many people who get an 11% pay raise each year.

Bloomington, the largest Twin Cities suburb, pays the mayor more than any other suburb, according to a survey by the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities of cities with a population of more than 20,000. Bloomington's population is listed as 85,300. In Edina, where the population is 48,156, the mayor is paid $7,050 annually. Brooklyn Park, a city of 68,715, pays its mayor $16,116.

Even figuring for population differences, Bloomington still will be paying their mayor more than Edina. In 25 days Bloomington residents can send another voice of reason to the city council, his name is Loren Klassen. If Loren was there the vote still would have been 4-2, but two votes against would at least be progress. In about 389 days, the eastern parts of Richfield and Bloomington will have a chance at sending the voice of reason to St. Paul to fix the mess that is happening their.