Imagine it is your first day on a new job.
What’s the first thing you do?
If you are Joseph Mickens, you ask for a raise.
In private business, there is a term for someone who does that: Former Employee.
Mickens represents Ward 2 on the Columbus city council, however, and those rules don’t apply.
Tuesday evening, Mickens proposed a $3,000 pay raise for city council members, a raise which would go into effect next month, when Mickens and the rest of the council will begin their new four-year terms.
You might recall that Mickens tried this four years ago. In fact, his proposal at the final meeting of that four-year term on June 18, 2013, was passed. The council, in a moment of clarity, rescinded that $4,000 raise at its next meeting over Mickens’ lone objection.
Tuesday’s pitch for a pay raise met a similar fate. Mickens and Ward 1 Councilman Gene Taylor were the only “yea” votes in a proposal that failed, 3-2.
So it’s pretty clear that Mickens feels as though he is underpaid and, perhaps, under-appreciated.
If so, we were listening.
Yet when Mickens was given the opportunity to make his case for the raise, he declined.
“I’ve got nothing for y’all,” he said after the motion failed.
Suffice to say, we are not convinced by his argument.
Unlike the private sector, councilmen can raise their own pay, which even under the best circumstances is guaranteed to draw criticism.
But it’s a difficult case to make in this instance — the councilmen’s pay ($17,500) is pretty much in line with what other Mississippi cities of comparable size pay their elected leaders. The timing isn’t particularity good, either. Property values, which determine the city’s budget, are going down and taxes are likely to go up when the new fiscal year begins in October.
For those inclined to shrug off Mickens’ proposal under the theory that the measure failed and no harm has been done, we suggest that the councilman’s views — along with those of Taylor — suggest seriously misplaced priorities.
For the past two terms, the first order of business for Mickens has been a pay-raise.
He probably ought to get out of the house more. Look around. To paraphrase the lyrics of a popular song, the city of Columbus has 99 problems but city-council pay ain’t one.
Having said that, we remain open-minded and would not be opposed to a merit pay raise.
If the council will adopt some goals and benchmarks for what they hope to achieve for the city over the next four years, we’ll be glad to consider how deserving the council may be of a raise.
Four years hence, if Mickens is again elected, we fully expect his first motion will be a pay-raise. He is nothing if not consistent.
Perhaps then, he’ll be able to say more than “I’ve got nothing for y’all.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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