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Date Posted: 20:27:38 06/16/04 Wed
Author: "Remember I'm on your side"
Subject: "We're all in this Together"

email this print this
Posted on Thu, Apr. 15, 2004





W-B activist working to slash officials' perks

By KASIA KOPEC

kkopec@leader.net


WILKES-BARRE - Walter Griffith wants voters to have the opportunity to reduce or eliminate perks enjoyed by elected officials, including pensions and health-care benefits.
Griffith, a Republican who failed in his bid for a council seat in 2003, is behind an effort to place a trio of questions on the ballot in November to overhaul the city's benefits and pay policies.

He has retained attorney Harry Skene to draft the questions, which would ask voters to weigh in on several points:


Should part-time council members be entitled to health-care benefits?

Should the city's pension policies be changed to require longer terms of service?

Should elected officials' raises be set by ordinance with the stipulation they not take effect for a period of six months?
Griffith needs to collect signatures from 10 percent of city residents, roughly 4,000 people, for the questions to be placed on the ballot.

Griffith wants to eliminate health benefits for part-time council members, a perk he calls burdensome to taxpayers, many of whom contribute substantially to the cost of their own health care.

Mayor Tom Leighton's budget includes $14,600 for medical insurance for himself and former Mayor Lee Namey, plus $20,500 for medical insurance for council members.

Another $8,400 is also budgeted for medical insurance buyouts.

Then there's the matter of raises, which are based on the lowest negotiated pay increase for members of the city's four unions.

Griffith says that policy provides little motivation for the mayor, who negotiates union contracts on behalf of the taxpayers, to hold the line on raises.

"If the mayor knows he will get a 3 percent raise if the union he is negotiating with gets a 3 percent raise, what incentive is there for him to work to lower that?" asked Griffith.

Asked what would prevent council from enacting an ordinance granting elected officials a 10 percent raise under his plan, Griffith said he is optimistic the ballot question - its wording yet to be finalized - would include a cap on raises.

Council members and Mayor Tom Leighton are voluntarily forgoing raises this year.

Griffith is also determined to have voters decide whether the time has come to change or eliminate pensions for elected officials.

"Nowhere in the private sector are part-time employees' hours counted toward their pensions," Griffith said. "But it happens all the time in Wilkes-Barre.

"We have council members who put in 12 years of part-time service, then they leapfrog to mayor, where they only have to serve eight years, and at the end of it all they get a full pension."

Griffith outlines his concerns in a certified letter mailed to council members Friday. The letter was included in meeting packets provided to council members Wednesday.

The letter reads in part: "I am writing you this letter to let you know myself, other citizens of Wilkes-Barre and business people are very disgusted with your effort in office so far and we are not in the month of May and all you have done is raised our taxes up by 20 mills, raised and added new nuisance fees and basically cut services to the citizens of the City of Wilkes-Barre."

Councilman Jim McCarthy said he read the note but considers it nothing more than "another one of Mr. Griffith's tirades."

"Given the situation we're faced with, we are working harder than we ever have in the past and I think we earn every dime we are paid," McCarthy said.

Councilman Bill Barrett, who does not participate in the council pension program or take medical benefits or a buyout, said he feels sorry that Griffith begins his letter by expressing disgust with the job council has done to date.

"I do believe we are collectively working to make things better," Barrett said. "And if (Griffith) feels he has solutions we should consider, he should bring them to our attention."

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