Via an emailer, this story of what Mayor Chris Doherty (D) is doing to his city workers is pretty shocking:
In defiance of an injunction issued in Lackawanna County Court, hundreds of city employees will open their checks today to find they were paid only minimum wage for their work.
Amid Scranton’s ever-deepening financial crisis, Mayor Chris Doherty said his administration is going forward with a plan to unilaterally slash the pay of 398 workers to the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour with today’s payroll, insisting it is all the city can afford.
That will likely earn administration officials an appointment with Judge Michael Barrasse, who granted the city’s police, fire and public works unions a special injunction temporarily barring the administration from imposing the pay cuts after a brief hearing Thursday.
Mr. Doherty, who did not attend the hearing, said afterward he understands and respects Judge Barrasse’s perspective, but the city lacks the cash to meet the full payroll.
“We have enough money to make the minimum payroll,” Mr. Doherty said. “The judge can rule against us, but I don’t know how to pay the money. … We’ll pay them as much as we’ve got, but that’s what we’ve got.”
Business administrator Ryan McGowan said the city transferred $311,000 – the amount needed to cover the minimum-wage payroll – to its payroll processing vendor, leaving about $5,000 in the bank Thursday. City officials have said the pay cut is temporary, and employees will be made whole once the city’s cash-flow situation improves.
Union attorney Thomas Jennings vowed to seek a contempt citation against the city if employees receive less than their full pay today.
“If the checks come out with anything other than the wages they are entitled to, they (city officials) are in contempt of Judge Barrasse’s order,” Mr. Jennings said. “Then it’s no longer just Tom Jennings they are messing with. They are messing with a far greater power.”
Although I am sure there are some folks wearing leather jackets and hipster glasses who make 100+k a year in wingnut welfare for a glibertarian magazine that can’t turn a profit who think minimum wage is all these city workers deserve.
Hypatia's Momma
I was pleasantly surprised that he included himself in the pay cut.
Svensker
Where is the mayor supposed to get the money, though? I’m not trying to be a jerk, I just don’t understand what he’s supposed to do. Can a city write bad checks and somehow they’re covered automatically or something?
Villago Delenda Est
This mayor should personally pay for this unspeakable act.
Oh, wait. Wage and benefit contracts only apply to banksters (and their precious bonuses), not to lowly policemen and firemen. Never mind.
Hypatia's Momma
@Svensker:
The council are being idiots.
cathyx
I’m going to assume the mayor isn’t being paid minimum wage also.
Chris
God forbid anyone raise taxes to pay people what they’ve earned.
Villago Delenda Est
@Svensker:
My suggestion would be a special tax on everyone with an income greater than %100k to make up the difference.
If they don’t like it, they can leave.
the Conster
I listened to the NPR reported version of this story yesterday morning, and they had the mayor on – there’s just no money, and it can’t be borrowed, because there’s really no way to pay it back on bankster terms. He didn’t exclude his own pay. He is in a fight with the city council about what’s going on but the reporting didn’t clarify over what, so perhaps he’s blowing smoke but Doherty was pretty articulate about the dire straits Scranton is in these days. I suspect they’re the canary in that coal mine as tax revenues keep falling in those old manufacturing/extraction jurisdictions. I fear this is the new normal – happy now, Kochsuckers?
ETA: Tax revenues, of course. What else would the fight be about? Thx Hypatia’s Mom.
Citizen Alan
@cathyx:
My understanding is that he is paying himself minimum wage as well.
donovong
Why in the hell are people jumping on the mayor? His hands have been tied. Would it have been better for him to lay off everybody?
The guy obviously is confronting a devil’s paradox and it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. At least he has the guts to stick it out.
Narcissus
“Alternative sources of revenue.”
Like?
Baud
@donovong:
Agree. Sounds like the mayor isn’t the problem here. He’s just stuck in the middle.
gnomedad
Yeah, it doesn’t sound like the mayor is the one doing the “doing to” here.
cathyx
If they were laid off, they could collect unemployment.
Quarks
@cathyx: Hmm. My first response vanished into a void. Let me try this again, separating the links into two different responses this time:
According to NPR, the mayor is paying himself minimum wage as well:
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/07/156416876/scrantons-public-workers-pay-cut-to-minimum-wage
Quarks
…..oh, I give up.
(Not on Scranton, on trying to post things here. Although maybe I should give up on Scranton too.)
Roger Moore
@Narcissus:
From the sound of it, the council is offering something between pixie dust and the Underpants Gnome approach.
JoyfulA
@efgoldman: The Teahadi PA legislature, in a midnight bill-passing session before summer vacation, did pass a bill prohibiting third-class cities (which I think Scranton is, and the incinerator- and Wild West-plagued Harrisburg definitely is) from declaring bankruptcy.
gnomedad
@Quarks:
Yesterday I tried to post something referencing
K …
h …
a …
n …
Academy and my posts just vanished. Maybe you have some forbidden word. Unlike “fuck”.
Svensker
@Hypatia’s Momma:
A 78% property tax hike is pretty horrific, though. And the problem with property tax hikes is that they are not progressive. Well, if you force old people and poor folks whose home values have gone up to move if they can’t pay the tax hike I guess that would be progressive.
It sounds like a big mess. And probably a canary.
Quarks
@gnomedad: I was mostly trying to link to an article that summed up the many problems Scranton has (the payroll issue is just one of them), but apparently the site hates either the link, the article, Scranton, or me. Since I’m paranoid today, I’m going with me.
JGabriel
Ah, Lackawanna County. Right next door to Luzerne County, home of the Kids for Kickbacks scandal (remember that one?).
When it comes to local corruption, those two counties make NYC, Albany, Chicago, Miami, LA, New Orleans, and Las Vegas all look like pikers.
.
gelfling545
I am SO sick of this can’t ever raise taxes thing. My property tax bill from the city just came in and it has gone down again even though the city is a mess. I now pay less than I did 10 years ago. Has the price of anything dropped that you know of? My taxes are ridiculously low and while I like to save money as well as the next person I’d rather live in a city that had some services for its residents & pay a bit more. For example, the pot holes on the roads here can be fenced, filled with water & called municipal swimming pools if they get much larger. Schools are cutting things just about every day & fire & police protection is way down. And this is supposed to be a mainly Democratic town. It’s hard to see how a gang of Republicans could do more tax & service cutting.
quannlace
A bake sale perhaps?
donovong
@cathyx: Yes, they could collect unemployment. But last time I looked, it comes no where near minimum wage. And there are no benefits, either. However, much like the minimum wage situation, it is very temporary.
salvage
I’m pretty sure if I open my cheque and it was less than what it was supposed to be city property would start showing up in pawnshops.
HEY YOU
No one can have services that they won’t or can’t fund.
The truth is not always pleasant.
Goblue72
Start selling off city assets for one. That’ll get council’s attention. I’d also be curious as to what role pension obligations for cops/fire plays in all this. If Scranton is similar to every other city out there, the cops and firefighters are likely grossly overpaid compared to other city workers.
Mino
@Goblue72: Right. Let start a spiral down of wages. Everyone has even less money to circulate in the general economy. That’s sure to help.
Commenting at Ballon Juice since 1937
These idiots forget what ‘labor unrest’ was really like. I’m pretty sure their job is to keep an eye on things so that there isn’t a crisis because there’s nothing left in the check book. They should resign.
Goblue72
@Mino: Just because some workers are underpaid, doesn’t mean some workers aren’t overpaid. Your average cop for one. When the City of San Francisco, as one example, has over a third of its employees earning over $100k a year and MOST of those $100k+ workers are cops & firefighters, then yes Houston, we have a problem.
Yutsano
@Goblue72: Do me a favour: have that conversation when the economy is better. Right now nitpicking on who is winning the wage scale just weakens us when we need to stay focused.
Goblue72
@Yutsano: Unlike all y’alls I can keep two independent thoughts in my head at the same time. The only way these long term structural municipal finance issues get dealt with IS during a crisis. City councils and Mayors never deal with these issues during the good times. It’s their open checkbook behavior during good times that is half the reason some of these municipalities are having these problems now.
Peregrinus
@Goblue72:
I see your point, but if it’s handled badly, I also think this is a great way to make police and firefighters a permanent Republican constituency – all the GOP has to do is point out how “the Democrats are trying to cut YOUR pay,” and to the general public the messaging will be “the Democrats are cutting pay for civil servants [that will vote for us].”
Though I understand what you say about the crisis mode. That’s unfortunately way too true.
tech98
What a shame. Scranton was such an attractive place to live before this happened.
Poopyman
That didn’t take long:
Riiiiight.
James Gary
@Goblue72:
Maybe you could use an actual example of Scranton municipal employees being overpaid instead of some bullshit about San Francisco, then. Also, your Shock Doctrine approach to this crisis (“the only way these long term structural municipal finance issues get dealt with IS during a crisis”) comes across as obnoxiously glib.
Goblue72
@Peregrinus: absolutely – its fine line tightrope. Although in many of these blue cities, the well paid cops and firefighters live in the suburbs and already vote Republican.
Mino
@Goblue72: Well, I looked it up. Base pay for police officer in Scranton is under $50,00. Wanna try again.
And here’s a more balanced look at the SF situation: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/1-in-3-San-Francisco-employees-earned-100-000-3191191.php
Shawn in ShowMe
Citing the San Francisco income disparity as an analogy for Scranton is like taking away scholarships from Belmont because of NCAA violations at Syracuse.
Mino
@Svensker: I don’t know how Pennsylvania cities tax their properties, but in Texas it’s a pretty small %. So it’s easy to scream 78% increase when the actual rise was 1/4%. But this may not be true for Pa.
jefft452
@Goblue72: “employees earning over $100k a year and MOST of those $100k+ workers are cops & firefighters”
Is this supposed to be shocking?
I earn over 100k, and if I screw up on the job nobody dies
And just how much of that 100k is overtime?
Also too
““employees earning over $100k a year”
If they earned it, they aint over paid, QED
Mino
@Shawn in ShowMe: Wanna talk overpaid….How about those pro sports players??? Maybe we could use the occasion to reduce their salaries, too.
How about Lawyers????
How about Doctors????
You see how this could snowball.
Goblue72
@jefft452: Well bully for you, sporto.
Goblue72
@Mino: I’ve read the article before as I lived in SF for 7 years. And re-reading it, looks like a there are plenty of grossly overpaid cops and firefighters. And the usual overtime and vacation banking shenanigans.
Mino
@Goblue72: Didn’t Arizona sell off its capital or some such?? Then had to buy it back for some ridiculous sum? I seem to remember. Not such a good deal for the taxpayer there, was it. Thing about fire sales–the seller always loses. And the sellers in this case are the taxpayers of Scranton.
burnspbesq
@Villago Delenda Est:
I don’t suppose it occurred to you to give any thought to how much revenue your proposed surtax might actually raise in a city where the median household income is only $41K.
Naah, of course it didn’t.
Mino
@Goblue72: Payscale for San Francisco:
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Location=San-Francisco-CA/Salary
Shawn in ShowMe
@Mino:
Private industry can pay people whatever they want. That’s one of the perks of being private.
But I do have to scratch my head when the chief of police is getting paid like the CEO of a Silicon Valley startup. Ain’t no venture capital money flowing here.
Another Halocene Human
Although I am sure there are some folks wearing leather jackets and hipster glasses who make 100+k a year in wingnut welfare for a glibertarian magazine that can’t turn a profit who think minimum wage is all these city workers deserve.
That’s because city workers are assholes and they’re winners. Duh.
burnspbesq
@JoyfulA:
I’d be curious to know what blockhead gave them a legal opinion saying that law wouldn’t be pre-empted.
Lojasmo
@Goblue72:
Know how I can tell you are not a firefighter or a cop in San Francisco?
A SMALL 2 bedroom in San Fran costs thousands per month (to rent). My friend is a big shot lawyer in SF and he can’t afford to buya house.
Another Halocene Human
@Svensker: Where is the mayor supposed to get the money, though? I’m not trying to be a jerk, I just don’t understand what he’s supposed to do. Can a city write bad checks and somehow they’re covered automatically or something?
So he should just breach the labor contract and a court order? There is a proper way to deal with this–furloughs and layoffs. Of course, that would mean cutting back on services and everyone in town feeling the pain immediately, not just city workers and their families (of course, cutting their pay ripples out, but it takes a while for that to propagate).
Mino
@Shawn in ShowMe: My Snark Signal broken, I guess.
And just how little do you think a chief of police of a city the size of San Franciso should be paid? That salary is intended to attract the best caliber of employee the city can afford for the position.
Another Halocene Human
@Hypatia’s Momma:
The mayor’s an idiot, too. It’s no wonder the council won’t work with him. He’s made an enemy of his workers and the labor unions instead of turning them into an ally (after all, most of them live there too) and he missed the chance to make HIS problem EVERYONE’S problem by shutting down services.
Where I grew up every time money got short there was a list of non-essentials starting with parks and working up through roads that got shut down or delayed until people agreed to cough up the dosh or decided to do without. I’ve also seen municipalities pull the threaten to cut police/fire first trick. It’s local politics 101… how much of a goober is this guy? Must be eating tainted supermarket cakes at too many Tea Party rallies.
Another Halocene Human
@JoyfulA:
OMGWTF.
We’re screwed.
The banks literally own us.
First Michigan, now this.
FUCK.
Mino
@Another Halocene Human: San Antonio always started by closing the libraries. That got everyone’s attention, fast.
Another Halocene Human
@Goblue72:
Are you on crack? Pay must be indexed to cost of living. USD is not worth as much in SF, CA as in Omaha, NE.
Shawn in ShowMe
@Mino:
I’d have to think about it — but I think paying him $320,000 more than what Secretary of Defense for the entire country makes is a bit excessive.
Another Halocene Human
@Goblue72: Sounds more like you just have a problem with cops.
I dunno, I am willing to entertain the notion that some FFs are overpaid. There is great variation in pay nationally. However, having watched how long a sworn officer position will stay open when the pay on offer is shite, I have to respectfully disagree about cop pay. I also live in an area which is underserved in terms of law enforcement and pays for it in terms of the high rate of unsolved property crime, traffic deaths/injuries, unsolved murders, etc. Oh, we have cops… narc cops… thank you feds. But regular cops are thin on the ground. We pay little and we get rookie, undertrained coppers who out-of-town crooks laugh at. I’m not a property-uber-alles type but if you’re a little guy and somebody rips you off, that hurts. In fact, that might have been your last dollar just then. When you’re really poor, it really hurts.
Now, some of the stuff cops do on overtime, okay, we can talk. But again, it’s going to depend on the state. In some states when you’re moving oversized loads you’re required to hire troopers at overtime rate of pay, one of the biggest single expenses. Where I am now, any old shmoe is allowed to direct traffic around construction sites. Well, guess what, Shmoe is a shlemozzle who has no business waving an orange flag around! One day I was driving a bus and this putz waved me through while his compatriot waved another bus through at the other end at the same time–one lane operation–good thing bus drivers are wilier than that, or somebody would have been backing us up (not the putz, mind you). Maybe you could get someone intermediate rather than a sworn P.O., but “no license, no training” IS STUPID. “Ya get what ya pay for.”
Edited to clarify and FYWP.
ruemara
Aww honey, local government under dems is just as as anti-worker as if it were republicans. The one good thing is, the Mayor did not except himself from the pain and there’s some valid issues with an intransigent city council. but coming from my own deep blue town, if my council could renege on worker contracts, withhold pay and break with pension benefits, I would not be too surprised if they did. It busts my chops when I work for the local dem chapter and see their pictures all over.
Another Halocene Human
@Goblue72: How is vacation banking a shenanigan?
Another Halocene Human
@Mino: I think there’s a legitimate issue here but it’s been going on for years. They don’t promote from within and they pay the top guys outsize wages. Same thing happened with school superintendants. It encourages empire-building because that justifies higher pay. (Also cutting lowest level worker’s wages. Wheeee!)
It’s something that’s bled over from the private sector and is very corrosive. Of course, at some point, it becomes so pervasive that everyone knuckles under.
Cities always seem to hire city managers from elsewhere, police chiefs from elsewhere… where do these people come from? Why are they anointed? Why aren’t people moving up from within the organization who know it well? I mean, I could see making changes if there’s a culture of corruption, but in this case it’s the reverse… jump from muni to muni, raising salary each time, no investment long term in community so pull some shit and run before bills come do, make it look like you’re doing something by wasting money on a stupid rebranding, new livery, reorg and cause chaos because you have a learning curve on this new environment.
IT’S ALL BULLSHIT.
Mino
@Shawn in ShowMe: Well, it is the market speaking at that level of responsibility.
The Sec. of Defense’s salary is redonkulous. If you need the money, you’ll never have the job.
Another Halocene Human
Let me explain overtime. In public safety, in fire fighting, in power plant operation, tree crews, bus driving, childcare, prison guarding, and similar jobs, THERE MUST BE A BODY TO FILL EACH POSITION. So if someone is sick, or injured, or god forbid takes a damn day off, SOMEBODY MUST BE THERE TO MONITOR THE POWER PLANT SAFETY CONTROL ROOM MMM DONUTS.
So there’s lots of overtime.
Also, all these professions have their emergencies–hurricanes, wildfires, whatever–more overtime.
Or another region has an emergency and needs to “borrow” personnel–more overtime.
Or state law requires use of certain certified personnel to perform certain tasks OR a project or insurance co’s liability requires the use of the municipal worker (especially cops). Well they SURE ain’t doing it on the taxpayer’s STRAIGHT TIME… that would be stealing YOUR tax dollars for PRIVATE PROFIT. Hello. More overtime.
Ayep, part of cops’ pay does NOT come from the taxpayer. Wake up and smell the motherfouling coffee.
I am really tired of people mouthing off about stuff they know nothing about. I think I need a hug or a nap or something. :-/
Another Halocene Human
@ruemara: We’ve let too many limousine liberals take over local Democratic committees, with their $200 dinners and open loathing of working people. The local pols all suck but sometimes they can be intimidated into action (12 people at a city meeting usually is sufficient). If we did a Roxbury-style 200-people room packout I think they’d have to call EMS for our mayor, lolol…
Steeplejack
@Shawn in ShowMe:
I presume you’re talking about Deputy Chief Charles Keohane, who was paid $516,118 in 2009.
If you don’t want to pay him the cash, then you need to force him to take his vacation days, etc., and do without his services during those times.
I believe a lot of cities run into the overtime problem because they don’t want to increase payroll head count. Yeah, often it’s short-sighted, but people don’t see that except in hindsight. But the work needs to be done, regardless of who is doing it.
Another Halocene Human
@Mino: One positive thing where I’m living now, the library has its own tax assessment so they can’t pull that shite.
I figure shuttering city pools in the heat of the summer would rile up thousands of “apolitical” sorts just nicely, hehehe. (Probably why my town under it’s mayor of 30 years did that all the time… no wonder the old codger stayed in power.)
Another Halocene Human
@Steeplejack:
Ding ding ding.
But it’s not some sort of unplanned problem. It’s deliberate. And when the time is ripe, it is used.
gelfling545
@efgoldman: I vote in every election & work & contribute in some. I have made the mayor, my council person (both Dems)and any other official warm body I can contact aware of my feelings. They find my outlook “interesting” by which I believe they mean crazy. Raising taxes is, they tell me, “unpopular” by which I believe they mean likely to interfere with them keeping their jobs.
Roy G.
It must’ve been all those corporate tax breaks they gave to Dunder-Mifflin to keep them from moving to Fla. The job creators at Shrute Farms must have their tax breaks as well.
BBA
@burnspbesq: Preempted by what? Municipalities can only file Chapter 9 if specifically authorized by state law. 11 USC § 109(c)(2).
This would be a specific non-authorization.
Peregrinus
@efgoldman:
I realize that, but I also think there’s still a chance that the GOP could pull them back in with a divisive stunt like “Dems favor THESE unions, but not you guys.”
Obviously the GOP governors overplayed their hands, even Scott Walker left the police alone (not that it helped much), but I’m not convinced they won’t come back for more.
karen
@Goblue72:
Let’s underpay the firemen. Then have your town refuse to raise any taxes. Then your house burns down unless you pay a thousand dollar fee for the firemen.
What fucking right do you have to declare that people are being overpaid?! And if you live in the SF area, you know that the wages are higher there because it costs so fucking much to live there.
How much do YOU make?
Jonny Scrum-half
@JoyfulA: Scranton’s not a third-class city.
By the way, can you please explain why the legislature’s decision to prevent certain cities from filing for bankruptcy is “teahadi” in nature? I would think that bankruptcy would be a tool the cities could use to, for example, restructure union contracts. Preventing such tactics sounds to me like it’s protecting labor contracts. Am I missing something?
Cain
@Goblue72:
100K in california isn’t a lot of money. Yeah, it sounds like a lot, but you can probably barely afford an apartment. You’d live like a king in the South though.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Cain: Funny, then, how most California households survive on a lot less than $100,000 a year. I don’t know whether or not anyone is being overpaid, but these sorts of comments are all sorts of clueless.