City Council considering raising their own salary again!

[FSPinNY]

While I'm still here in Ithaca NY I'm going to be a real pain in the ass with the local Progressive Democrats who are running the city.  Here's where I could use your help:

The City Council members are proposing that they give themselves yet another raise.  Currently these elected positions are paid $7,000/year plus about $9,000/yr for medical and dental insurance.  I think that these positions should be volunteer and they should not be paid at all.  It is NOT a job, it is community service.  In a recent Council meeting, they were discussing how much time they put into the position and how much they deserved the raise.  It was decided that the next step is to compare similar positions and cities to see what compensation packages they have.  Of course, other NY cities will be compared.

Ithaca's population is about 29,000.  Cornell and Ithaca College students seasonally add 35,000 thousand more.  I see Keene's population is about 23,000 (22,563 in 2000) and there is a relatively small college in town.  Similar but smaller.

I am very curious to compare Keene city officials salary and benefits to Ithacas.  Can you point me to information about the benefits and salary, if any, of Keene's elected officials?  Thank you!   

Brian Sullivan 

[Russell Kanning]

I am too scared to look