A week after our city’s elected officials voted to give City Manager Tommy Gonzalez and City Attorney Karla Nieman merit raises, Mayor Dee Margo is publicly suggesting that they should refuse them.
The mayor said he told Gonzalez and Nieman during their June 24 evaluations that they should either decline their pay increase or defer it to the next fiscal year. However, he has not had additional conversations about the raises since then.
Wow, that’s weird. Here’s what he said when the raises were announced last week, via the El Paso Times:
The annual merit raises come amid budget cuts and ongoing employee furloughs. Margo said Monday Gonzalez accepted the raise but will give it to local charities assisting with coronavirus relief efforts. The mayor said he has not discussed with Nieman whether she will accept the raise.
So is Mr. Gonzalez going to accept the raise, but give it to local charities? Or did Mayor Margo advise him and Ms. Nieman to decline the pay raises?
What do you think about Mayor Margo publicly shaming the City’s two highest paid employees? Political theater, perhaps?
Couldn’t Mayor Margo have had the discussion with the City Manager in private? The mayor’s going to look bad if the City Manager and City Attorney accept the raises after the mayor made it public.
Maybe Mayor Margo could have communicated with Mr. Gonzalez via their private email accounts. The Mayor could have gotten Mr. Gonzalez’ private email address from Don Pablo, if he doesn’t already have it.
Do you think, perhaps, that Mr. Gonzalez and Ms. Nieman will decline their raises before they hit their paychecks and give the mayor some leadership credibility? He really needs some leadership credibility.
Or, couldn’t the Mayor, as a leader who always has the public in mind, simply had said, during the reviews, that perhaps any pay raises should just be tabled until this crisis has passed? I agree this whole thing smells, but then, that’s what we get for electing these assholes who only have their own self interest in mind.
Why haven’t the reviews been released? They have in the past. As far as this goes, Margo is grandstanding so he can say he “tried” to stop raises. By the way, didn’t city council vote to stop ALL raises until the “crisis” was over?
Void of any sincerity… Just like his alligator tears.
What people do not realize is the effects that these raises have on their pensions and contract buyouts. Everytime Tommy Boy gets a raise, 2 additional things happen. His monthly pension payment goes up by the same percentage. Same thing for the City Attorney. These payments are for life. So the City of El Paso taxpayers are on the hook for these lifetime payments. Get a raise now and get another raise when you retire and start collecting your pension.
Tommy Boy knows this. That is why he is willing to take the raise and then donate the money to a charity for 1 year. He loses it on the front end but gets it on the back end since the raises goes into his base pay. Dont think anyone sees this. Dumbass Margo probably discovered this or was told by his advisors.
The 2nd thing that happens for both the City Manager and City Attorney. When Oscar Lesser gets elected Mayor and comes into office to remove both Tommy Boy and Karla Nieman, their buyout amount will increase. The raises are added to their base pay. If they have 24 or 36 months left on their contracts, then the contracts buyouts goes up by the raise amount. Tommy Boy knows this. So let’s accept the raise and donate the first year to a charity, but you get it back in future years. Just need to add it to my base pay.
Everyone at City Hall knows about these 2 subsequent long term consequences. Everybody but Margo. Now he has to do the back stroke and save himself. We would all be surprised if Tommy Boy gives back the raise. He is just too greedy. Tommy Boy just figured out another way to screw the El Paso Taxpayer.
Tommy Gonzalez is an excellent example of “The Fleecing of America”. Donate pay raise to charity, and deducted on the personal income taxes for next year. There is no one to blame, but us for allowing this bullshit to happen.
As the Ceasar’s of old did, they would lead the charge into Battle. So, why doesn’t “Oklahoma Dee” forfeit HIS pay, and donate it to Charity? Or the local Food Bank? Or, the local homeless shelter? He’s a “millionaire” right? Inherited his wife’s wealth and became a Big Man at the Country Club. Snapping his fingers at the staff and back slapping with other Gringo’s. However….that is a whole other story….. The inflation rate for the USA for 2020 is/and will be projected to be 0.62%…..So, how in the heck does Tommy Boy merit a 5% raise? What has he done to merit such a raise in the last year? Does anyone have any thoughts where Gonzalez has excelled? Why doesn’t “Oklahoma Dee” have a forum where the average Jose/Joe can ask questions and get Honest Answers?