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October 28, 2003
TO THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA:
I am herewith returning to you as disapproved Bill Number 030641, which was passed by Council on October 16, 2003, and which would provide pay raises of approximately 15 percent to elected officials. While I value and respect the work of elected officials, I believe providing raises of such magnitude is inappropriate and sends the wrong message to our constituents and employees who will be asked to make sacrifices to help ensure that we maintain fiscal stability over the next four years.
Further, in order to curtail our costs, we have implemented a hiring freeze, we have withheld pay raises to civil service exempt employees who earn more than $50,000, and have committed to significantly reducing our workforce. Our union represented employees are getting pay raises of either three percent or 3.5 percent this year and our FY04-FY08 Five-Year Plan assumes no pay increases after FY05. On this basis, I respectfully request that this bill not become law.
Respectfully,
John F. Street, Esquire
Mayor-City of Philadelphia
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