Hey, there! Log in / Register
Poll: City councilors say they're extra hard working - which do you think was in the office yesterday afternoon?
By adamg on Tue, 09/30/2014 - 6:18am
A roving UHub reporter went to City Hall around 4:30 p.m. yesterday to see which of the 13 councilors was burning the (figurative) midnight oil doing the hard work they say they do on behalf of their constituents that warrants a 29% raise - possibly even if that means risking fines and imprisonment. He found several completely empty offices - not even staffers were around. Only one city councilor was actually in his or her office. Guess which one. Answer this afternoon.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
To be fair I'm rarely ever in
To be fair I'm rarely ever in my office after 4:30, and a lot of people leave a early as 3, but they come in at like 7 am.
Are councilors only allowed to work 9-5 or something?
Are councilors not allowed to do work that involves being somewhere other than city hall?
I am 100% against them getting that raise, but I fail to see what being in their office at one specific time has to do with anything.
Just because it's unfair
Doesn't mean it's not awesome. Herald-esque, or if you prefer, shades of vintage Shank walking into Fenway with a measuring tape. I love everything about this post.
of course it's random, not scientific
The point is that on a random day (but the day they happened to be having hearing on voting themselves more money) only one of them was in their office.
Of course, any of them could be in a meeting with the Mayor discussing policy or dealing with an issue for a constituent, or marching in an anti-war campaign. The point is that so many of them were not there during regular business hours at a time of day when there are not typically community meetings to attend because most typical people work until at least 5 pm everyday if not longer, or are dealing with children or family at that time of day.
The most egregious part of this post is that some offices allegedly had no one in them, which means that everyone abandoned ship for the day. Excuse me, everyone was out doing the hard work of constituent services in the district.
Exactly
Not surprising that some councilors wouldn't be in the office...it's a part-time job. The fact that only one was is surprising, and the fact that some offices had ZERO employees? Disturbing. Yes, councilors may be attending meetings, meeting w/constituents, etc, but you'd think at least one of their many staffers would be manning the phones/office.
Unfair but interesting
Many councilors also spend their evenings going to neighborhood events and meetings. Glad to see so many folks have a high opinion of Michelle so far.
I assuming the roving reporter will, at some point, let us know who actually was burning the early-evening oil?
Yep
As mentioned, the answer will be posted this afternoon. Hmm, 4:30 sounds like a good time!
Dumb. Post it now. The real
Dumb. Post it now. The real answer, not the answer to the stupid poll.
No spoilers please
The poll is a great idea. It allows one to [unscientifically, mind you] get an overview of how people view their councilors.
4:30 is quitting time for
4:30 is quitting time for alot of people---4:00 in many cases. Doesn't mean much when you go there at that time--do it again at say 3:00PM
No Staffers?
I agree that a 1-time 4:30pm review isn't the definitive word on who works hard but according to this only ONE of many was around and most offices didn't even have staffers. If you're a constituent who works the morning shift and only gets out at 4pm don't you think you'd be annoyed if your rep was never around?
It's hard to make the argument that as a group they are working so darn hard they need to be paid 2-3 times the average salary in their districts yet they are welcome to perks that most of their constituents don't have such as picking their own hours.
City Hall hours
Boston City Hall is open from 8:30 - 5 and I don't think it's unreasonable for each councilor's office to be open during those hours. Even if the councilor isn't there because he/she has an evening meeting or some other official commitment, there's no excuse for not having staffers there during business hours.
I also work odd hours (6:30 am - 3:00 pm) because I work with offshore developers in Europe but there are other members of my team who are here to make sure that our team is represented until 5:30 pm which is the official closing time for our office.
There's no excuse for an office to be completely empty at 4:30.
That is unless all the jobs
That is unless all the jobs were offshored so no one is left in the office, ever.
Interesting Question?
What is the salary for staffers and will those be affected by the proposed raise? Anyone know?
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Each office is allotted a
Each office is allotted a certain amount of funding for staff that the individual councilors can divvy up as they see fit. I'm not sure what the exact number is off top of my head, though. The Council president is allotted more money for staff than others are. The vast majority of staffers are not making significant money in the positions. The staff salaries are not tied to councilor salaries and will be unaffected by any raise here. I'll also say it's unusual in my experience to see an office completely unstaffed during City Hall hours, I find this very odd.
Thank the Herald - Your tax dollars at work
http://bh.heraldinteractive.com/projects/your_tax_dollars.bg?src=Boston2...
I'm Always Happy To Thank The Herald...
... since they're the ones who pay ME (including today)
Interesting figures, though. There are two positions on the City Council payroll that currently receive higher salaries than the councilors. That was surprising to see.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Those two positions may
Those two positions may reflect what the individual would have made if he/she worked a full year, but I suspect those two people were part-timers, and the Herald's number just pro-rate their salary rates out to a full year. I have seen that before with the Herald's numbers for various positions. Don't know for certain, just a suspicion.
highest paid
The two highest paid......Amy and Frank are/were chiefs of staff to tito jackson and frank baker, respectively. Neither was a part time job in theory.
Not a defense but....
I have nothing to do with any of those offices. After decades of attending night meetings in my neighborhood over the decades, I know for a fact that the councilors attend a lot of night meetings.
I was thinking the same thing
And 29% sounds bananas to me too but I don't think of city councillor as a desk job--they're kind of on the move, no?
I think the point that they
I think the point that they're getting at is that not even staff was in the office at 4:30. If City Hall is open until 5, then you should have at least SOMEONE on your staff in the office until 5pm. I can understand Councilors not being in the office because they can easily argue that they were at events, meetings, etc, but a member of your staff needs to be at City Hall until closing time. Maybe nothing happens and that staffer sits there, but that's what happens when you are open for business, technically. You can't really claim that you are hard-working and there to receive/listen to your constituents when your office is closed early on a MONDAY.
Or shared staff
If city councilor is indeed a part-time job, then there should be at the very least a shared receptionist who can greet all visitors, and can help point the visitor in the right direction or help them set up an appointment for a future visit.
Job Descriptions. Offices of Boston City Council.
The Job Descriptions are available. All anyone has to do is ask for the Job Descriptions for each position in the Offices of Boston City Council at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=138
or at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=27
I take "z" Adam
None of the above!
Incomplete list
Was it Dapper?
Is he preserved in City Hall
Is he preserved in City Hall like Lenin in Red Square? Is that why there's no fourth floor?
I don't know that this is the
I don't know that this is the best measure of anything really. Being an elected official really isn't a traditional 9-5 sit-in-your-office job. A lot of the councilors are out in the districts at various points during the day and then cover night meetings. Even if they left at 4 to get home briefly before a night meeting, I wouldn't begrudge that. Of course, some of the councilors work much harder than others and observers know who they are.
It's interesting that both
It's interesting that both women seem to be leading right now.
It's the progressive thing
If O'Malley was newer to the council, he'd be up there, too.
Honestly, I guessed (and let's be fair, it was a guess) by discounting the old time pols, knocking out the progressives, leaving me with hopefully the work horse/guy who doesn't have a second job.
I'd be surprised if the midnight oil burner has a JD or is studying for one.
4:30?
If they are smart, they save time by coming in early, then going home to get the kids at 3, sift through some e-mails, and get a bite to eat before they have to be somewhere for an evening event.
Rush hour travel is a major time waste.
How busy are Councilors helping constituents?
As somebody who forced out of his house because of the carelessness of a local energy related home improvement company I am still waiting for my councilor to ask me how things are going or if he can be of any help.
I should acknowledge that a staffer was able to get the fire department report for me. But it would be nice if the the Councilor in my area would check in with me. I would ask him if he can help me deal with the Odyssean terrors that come with dealing with insurance companies.
Offices should not be closed before 5
It makes sense that councilors would duck out at 4 or 4:30 to beat the rush hour traffic. Most, but not all, spend lots of time at neighborhood meetings. But there is no excuse to leave the office empty. They all have staff.
I would be interesting to get an accounting of their time. What meetings are they actually going to? Do they go to committee hearings, testify at board of appeal, BRA or licensing hearings?
When he was a city councilor, our current Suffolk County DA Dan Conley was rarely in city hall. He spent most of his time practicing law. Do any of our current councilors have second jobs?
which is why they don't need raises
This is a part time job, the only scheduled thing they need to do is attend a mostly weekly city council hearing. They are somewhat busy in the late spring and summer as they hold dog and pony show hearings before rubber stamping the city budget put forward by the Mayor. They have no line item veto or chance to change the budget (unless they veto it and negotiate with the Mayor's office which happens once every decade or so) so essentially they are supposed to be accountants (although I wouldn't doubtfully trust any of them with my wallet let alone an accounting spreadsheet) overseeing 2.5 billion dollars.
Other than that they basically do what the $15 dollar an hour intern behind security at the 3rd floor of city hall does: answer questions about how to get things done in this byzantine maze of a city.
No raise is warranted or requested by the populace.
Who voted for Charles Yancey?
I'd be surprises if he knew where his office was!
And the answer is ...
Michelle Wu.
Good for her
She's always seemed hard working to me. Busted her ass to get elected. I might just bullet her next year.
Next year advocate Councilor Wu for Council President !
Next year advocate Councilor Wu for Council President ! A more relevant Boston City Council chaired under better direction than the recent Council Presidents.
Damn
I thought that was too obvious and went with Ayanna.
Me too
Almost went with Josh - funny - the young guns (Ayanna, Michelle, Josh and Matt) seem to be the leaders of this pack. Maybe we should just vote out anyone over 50? :-)
I find it ironic that it sounds like the people who we think are working the hardest are the ones that were most staunchly against the raises if I'm not mistaken. Definitely a correlation there.
Edit your comment, please
You mean *51
Ha ha
Are you a 1963 tail boomer too? And thinking of running?
empty
Which offices were empty?
Wu
Wu, I was right!
Young kids an issue?
Some of the council members with young children might be out at 4:30pm to deal with children. Though why no one would be in the office at all is a mystery.
What would the City be like if there were a balance of power?...
a) What would the City be like if the Council had greater power, if there were a balance of power between the Council and the Mayor?...
b) What would City Hall be like if there were a balance of power between the Council and the Mayor?...