DC Council Priorities: The "Emergency" Is Our Salaries!

I was already feeling a little upset in the stomach this morning when I sat down to read the Washington Post. The editorial "Raid on the D.C. Treasury" did little to calm me down. The gist of today's supposed "Emergency" legislation in the D.C. Council is to hand out hefty bonuses and raises to the elected officials -- voted on, of course, by the elected officials:

Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) has proposed that the council raise the mayor's salary from $152,000 to $200,000 and boost the council chairman's salary from $142,000 to $190,000. The measure would also give Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty (D) $250,000 in transition funds and award Council Chairman-elect Vincent C. Gray's (D) transition team $150,000.

Ward 1 council member Jim Graham (D), safely ensconced in office for another four years, wants to amend the bill to boost his and other council salaries by $23,000 a year, lifting their pay for "part-time" work from $92,530 to $115,000. Not to be outdone, departing council member Vincent B. Orange (D-Ward 5) has drafted an alternative bill that kicks up salaries by $48,000, to $140,000.

Nothing like voting yourself a raise far above the 3% that many people see in their yearly pay packets, or in Vincent Orange's case, how about proposing a raise that is in itself more than the median household income in Washington, D.C.? Perhaps outgoing Councilmember Orange could spin his proposed 51% pay raise as a Statehood issue: the council deserves a 51% increase because D.C. should be the 51st state. What hubris. What greed.

Particularly galling is that this pay grab comes immediately following the election. It would have been nice if Jim Graham -- who ran unopposed -- had announced his intentions to award himself a $23,000 a year raise before the election rather than after voters had given him another four years in office.

These pay proposals are so outrageous and idiotic that I have to wonder if they aren't also smoke-screens that will deflect attention from some of the other so-called "emergency" bills before the Council. The liquor industry has been plying the greedy councilmembers for some time in an attempt to tear down the District's regulations barring the opening of liquor stores and bars next to schools and parks:

Another emergency bill offers changes to a law that bars issuing liquor licenses to businesses within 400 feet of a school, college or District-operated recreation area.

With all the brouhaha over the salaries, I'm sure the liquor industry is licking its collective chops over the prospect of closer access to "new markets" like middle schools.