Massillon's Mayor for Life is one shrewd politician. As we learned earlier, he dumped the Legends of Massillon Golf Course on the Parks and Recreation Department at the City Council Meeting right before Christmas in 2002. The taxpayers were too busy shopping, cooking, cleaning, and making merry during this festive time of the year to pay real close attention to what was happening in city government.
Mayor Cicchinelli understands that Christmas is the time of the year he can pass those things that the citizens would find most offensive. Like pay raises for life.
On December 21, 1995, Massillon's merry band of rubber stamps passed an ordinance giving themselves, the Mayor, Law Director, Auditor, and Treasurer lifetime pay raises, which don't require a vote by anyone at anytime. Council voted for, and Mayor Cicchinelli signed this ordinance, which gave the Mayor a 21% raise in 1996, and then unvoted raises every year thereafter.
Here's how it works. Every year, the Mayor, city council, and the Law Director, Treasurer, and Auditor get an automatic, unvoted salary increase tied to the consumer price index. This ordinance is open ended, meaning it goes on forever. It is also uncapped, meaning there is no ceiling as to how high it can be during any given year.
Our Mayor for Life was a young pup then, he had just won his third term and decided, since he was going to be Mayor for Life, that he be compensated properly. He signed legislation giving himself an immediate 21% pay hike as an "adjustment," and then he would get an automatic raise every year. The taxpayers wouldn't care. It was four days before Christmas! Who was paying attention anyways!
Here is an example of how this worked just last year, in 2009. While the Mayor and Auditor Jayne Ferrero demanded that the rank and file employees take furloughs, and pay cuts, Mayor Cicchinelli took a 4.1% increase in his own pay. While the rank and file took less pay, the Mayor took more pay. While record unemployment was sweeping through the city, while residents were losing their jobs, or having their hours cut, the Mayor took more. We will call this leadership by example.
"When I told the Queen that her people had no bread, do you know what her response was?"
"Let them eat cake!"
The taxpayers of Massillon better learn to be more vigilant, especially around the holidays. This can't happen if you pay attention. Put the tree up early, and make sure to get to those council meetings right before Christmas.
