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Residents Have Negative Reaction To Question Of Pay Raises For City Council Members

DETROIT (WWJ) - The question of whether Detroit's City Council, Mayor, and Clerk get a pay raise could be a day closer to being answered.

But if the decision were up to several Detroit residents WWJ's Ron Dewey spoke with --- 'no, no, and not so fast' would be the answer.

Resident Ashlee Johnson says elected officials should not be given a pay increase in light of  the city's current situation.

"We are still struggling out here, you know, that's greed," says Johnson. "If you are supposed to be representing us - if you are representing us and want the best for us - that's taking away from us on a daily basis, you know?"

Alvin Williams has little sympathy for the council members.

"No, we can't afford pay-raises," said Williams, "in my opinion, they should be satisfied with what they get. The city can do better."

Lawerence Harris smiled when asked if a pay increase for city council members was in order.

"I mean, we are just coming out of bankruptcy," he said. "They knew what the job paid when they took it ... they should not get a raise. Not yet, probably couple years down the road - maybe so - but right now, definitely not."

The Detroit Compensation Commission could make that vote Monday.

Detroit's regular council members earn just under $77,000 dollars per year, which is about 21 percent less pay than similar cities according to the City of Detroit's Human Resources officials which reported the figure.

If approved, the request would still need the approval of the Financial Review Board, they hold the purse strings post - bankruptcy in Detroit.

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