With no discussion, D.C. Council members gave themselves a $22,500 pay raise Tuesday, making themselves among the highest paid locally elected officials in the nation at $115,000 each per year.
Council members approved the raise, which also boosted the salary of incoming Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty to $200,000, in a 7-3 vote. Fenty, who until Jan. 2 will continue to serve as the Ward 4 Council Member, recused himself from the vote, as did Ward 7 Democrat Vincent Gray, who will take over as council chairman on that day. Under D.C. law, Gray’s new salary will be raised to $190,000.
The council members now trail only those from Los Angeles in annual pay. New York City Council members recently raised their salaries to about $112,000 annually, but those members can receive additional money if they chair committees, a perk D.C. Council members do not get.
The pay raise issue has invoked the ire of some residents, as well as that of three council members who voted against it, largely because it comes on the heels of the election.
Outgoing Mayor Anthony Williams, who currently makes $152,000, proposed raising the salary for the incoming mayor, leading some council members to balk over the disparity between their pay and that of the incoming chairman.
Under D.C. law, the council chair must make $10,000 less than the mayor.
Council members Carol Schwartz, R-at large, Kwame Brown, D-at large, and outgoing Ward 3 Democrat Kathy Patterson opposed the raise Tuesday. Those three also voted against it during its first council reading Dec. 5.
Outgoing Council Member Sharon Ambrose, D-Ward 6, did not attend the meeting.
At least six council members, including three newcomers elected in November, will be eligible for the raise when the new term begins in January.
Those who started their four-year terms in 2004, including Schwartz and Brown, will not be eligible until 2008, according to District law.
