Mayor Ryan Sets Record Straight on Recent Press & Sun Story on City Salaries
May 9, 2012
Mayor Matt Ryan today set the record straight on the Press & Sun Bulletin's recent front page story on municipal salaries.
The story, which appeared this past Sunday, reported that 21 City employees received wages over $100,000 in 2011, when in fact only three of the employees received an annual salary above this amount. The other 18 employees received total wages exceeding six digits only when counting retroactive payments for two years of service. The retro payments stem from the City’s latest contract with the Police union, which spanned 2005—2011 and was finalized in 2010.
The Press failed to note the difference until today, when the newspaper ran a clarification in the Obituaries section.
“I was very disappointed that such a high profile story was so misleading, and I was even more upset when they buried their clarification,” said Mayor Ryan. “Our citizens deserve an accurate account of how we invest our public dollars. That’s why we all must ensure to clarify information that leads to confusion, and when that information is featured prominently, our clarifications must be just as prominent. We appreciate the media’s commitment to the same set of goals.”
Mayor Ryan continued, “The Press is now running an advertisement with my image and the caption ‘Collecting taxes is the City’s job. How they spend it is yours. City hall watchdog stories, only in the Press & Sun Bulletin.’ Well, we believe in open government, we’ve made City Hall more transparent than ever, we agree that the media should be strong watchdog and we expect the media to prioritize accuracy in turn. Today, we’re the Press & Sun’s watchdog, if only because nobody else is. We appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight for our citizens.”
Please click here to see the municipal salaries chart noted in the Press article.
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