11/13/1940 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

~ 384 lower brackets and those in the lower brackets should be raised. Those receiving ~ &~XJlPlRX $225 were receiving the maximum and probably could get along with less. &~ IV[r . Stanley Stevenson expressed the opinion that all those in the lower I &~ $ bracke ts sho~~,~-t ,.1:>8 ~r:ai~$.e:9. but he also felt that some should be given a cut and further consideration of the individual should be made in order to reach a full and equitable conclusion. Mr. R. S. Shelley addressed the group as a taxpayer pointing out that you get just exactly vvha t you pay for. If . one man presented himself for $3.50 per day and another presented himself for ~p4.00 and you hired the ~3.50 man you would get just ;;';3.50 vvorth of work and if you hired a ~;p4. 00 man you got $4.00 worth I of labor. '1'l1e1'e1'ore he very definitely favored the continuation of the scale proGram and pleaded with the council as a levying boal-d to amend the advertised budget and grant the proposed increase. 1',111' . Matt \'Jilhelm again addressed the council stating he had' made a check of the salaries paid to city employees and salaries paid to private employees and that the salaries paid to city employees were above tIle salaries paid in private employment to vvllich from one s ide of the room came a very definite denial. It vias pointed: out that if salaries were less, he must have investigat~d the chain stures and not individual home owned and operated businesses. Shy ( C. A. ) Huntington again addressed the group continuing his previous , request for consideration of the employees and aSked that the salaries be increased. If the salaries were in any instances above those being paid for like positions in other cities than heas an individual states that salaries in other cities are too low and it was no reason for holding salaries down here. Stanley Stevenson again talked about the loss and withdrawal of property by foreclosure and asked that the City Recorder stete th~ approximate amount that J had been withdrawn and the Recorder reported that about #4000 had been foreclosed for liens and not taxes. Mr. Huntington answered N~. Stevenson in this matter but stated that we should not hold employees of today responsible for actions of the council ten or t-vvelve years a50 for improvements in the city. I - Mr. Matt Wilhelm again addressed the council expressing his objections to any salary raises. George Wilhelm raised a possible mistake in the budget pointing out he had been informed that the City was paying XHR ~l400 and the School Board was paying ) ~1000 of the Playground Director's' salary and asked the Recorder to Clarify the same. The recorder reported that the city budgets the total salary a~d issues a warrant each rnonth for the full amount of '200, but there is included in the estima ed '. ~": I lrevenue account, ~lOOO from the School Board. Therefore, as far as the city is concerned, the directorts salary is budgeted at $200, and he could not state how " the school board kept books in this nmtter. ~ Dr. Peters stated he had made an investig,ation concerning the purchase I of new cars and that the percentaGe of new cars purchased by city employees exceede i tremendously the new cars purchased by other people. I Question was called for on Councilman Carlsonts motion. Councilman , i Carlson asked that his motion be placed on roll call. The ayes and nays were \ I calle d, councilmen voting aye: Carlson and Brownson; nay: Reid, Bond, Farrington, Kop p e , Barette and Stewart. The motion was declared lost. Councilman Barette stated that the salary question was becoming very alarming and something simply had to be done about it. He gave quite a discussion on the basis that there were certain elements within the group that were always 'I after raises. He extended great praise to the councilmen of the old days and their fine management of the city pointing out they had been able to payoff tremendous accumulations on warrant debt and that debt retirement was rapidly paying off - bonded debt. Whatever they felt in this matter certainly was satisfactory witp. him. Councilman Barette further pointed out that any employee of the city who was not satisfied with the salary being paid could leave and there were other people willi_ng to take the job. Mr. Carl Wagner addressed the group stating he was in favor of general I raises in connection with employees being able to quit if unsatisfied with their salaries. He stated it was very un-American to say they could quit if they werentt satisfied because in America we pride ourselves in paying a good American wage which should be sufficient for employees and laborers to become sound established citizens. This id~a of quitting if they wanted to was easy to say but with obligations incurred and. the purchasing of homes v:as s?mething that couldn't. be done. You get just what you pay for and certalnly If an employer.had.promlsed - an employee a raise after a year of good seryice and the ~mployer sald hlS hel~ could work for what he was getting or quit you could readlly assume ~ou wouldn t get the services in return for the salary paid if he didn't get a ralse that he had been promised. Mr. Wagner further stated that the city owed its employees ~