Having recently moved to Kent, I cannot say that I know anything about the mayor (Suzette Cooke) or her way of running the city. I do know that getting a 35 percent raise would upset most voters since they are lucky to get a 1-5 percent raise nowadays.
I think that if the commission thought the mayor’s salary should be that high, they should have raised it over a period of years rather than giving an embarrassing raise like that.
As for having her vacation time bought out? We should have a use-it-or-lose-it policy, unless we feel we cannot do without the mayor working every day of the year. But I do not think that is the case.
Even the president of the United States takes vacations. When you pay someone for their vacation time, you are paying them twice for the days of vacation they have built up. Just take the vacation, the city will go on without you while you are gone.
If the mayor has a conscience at all, she will have the commission that decided she needed a 35 percent raise, go back and have a “do over.” If not, then I hope someone starts a petition to strike down the raise and make it something reasonable.
But that is just my opinion. What is yours?
– Ronald Vandenberg
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