City Council member Robbie Perkins says Greensboro’s mayor and council members don’t make enough money:
“That’s just not fair,” Perkins says. “If you want the mayor to really lead this council and have the time to think about the strategic issues we as a city need to work on, you need to give that person the tools to do the work.”
He’s also asking that the council reconsider the amounts of travel allowances and insurance benefits for council members.
Any council member doing his or her duty is “going underwater” to pay for it, Perkins says.
I think it’s ironic that Perkins is making this suggestion, although fellow council member Mike Barber isn’t the only one who might think Perkins is might be angling for a run at mayor. I’ll admit I’m not in on the daily lives of the mayor and council members, but I’ll venture to say that, based on their professions, Perkins (a property broker) and Barber (an attorney) are the two busiest people on the council, yet they appear to have the best grasp of the issues. (I’m sure Trudy Wade puts in quite a few hours as a veterinarian, but her grasp of the issues runs hot and cold, based on my observations.)
At any rate, I’ll offer my ususal solution to city money matters: cut Coliseum director Matt Brown’s salary. Nobody’s ever explained to me why he’s the highest-paid city employee.
