City Council Ponders: Should We Give Ourselves a Raise?
City Council Ponders: Should We Give Ourselves a Raise? It was a time of great soul searching for city-council members in the City of Alt Losses. Should they increase their stipends from $300 to $950 a month and triple their benefits to $11,000 a year—an increase that the state of California just allowed? A special meeting was called to consider this all important question (during a 49ers football game). "The increase would cover the cost of gasoline (for the 2-to-3mile drive) to our bi-monthly meetings," they agreed. "It would pay for our printer cartridges." "We could attract more lower-income people to run against us," they reasoned self-righteously, "especially full-time working moms with lots of kids." One council member asked, "Does the increased health-insurance benefit include free facelifts?" "Face lifts? Yes," Staff responded. "Free? No. There's a $20 copay." "And how will this aff...