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Prop. D opponent called 'hypocritical' on spending cuts
[October 21, 2010]

Prop. D opponent called 'hypocritical' on spending cuts


SAN DIEGO, Oct 21, 2010 (KSWB-TV - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Union officials say City Councilman Carl DeMaio has been calling for city spending cuts while raising pay for his own staff.

San Diego's firefighter's union released a report Wednesday showing that three staff members of DeMaio, a vocal opponent of Proposition D, received raises totaling approximately $35,000. DeMaio's chief of staff, Felipe Monroig called the report "misleading." "They've looked at individual line items," ,Monroig said. "They failed to look at our entire compensation." Monroig said despite the raises to those individual staffers, the overall budget for DeMaio's staff has decreased by approximately $70,000.



Union officials said the raises are inconsistent with DeMaio's calls for reducing city spending and rolling back benifits for municipal employees while also opposing the Proposition D half-cent sales tax increase.

"He's beating that drum to make cuts," said Frank De Clercq, president of the local firefighter's union. "It's quite hypocritical to not follow through the same thing you're asking all the city employees to do." Monroig said DeMaio has cut the total number of staff positions and defends the raises saying the increase in pay corresponds to an increase in job functions and responsibility.


"They kind of cherry-picked to put forth the best story possible," Monroig said.

The combined raises of the three staff members in the report were about a 25 percent increase.

"I was quite upset when I first got wind of this," De Clercq said. "At a time he's railing on this city, you uncover that he's giving more to his employees." With the vote on Prop D approaching, DeMaio's office says the new report won't effect the councilman's credibility when opposing the passage of the sales tax increase.

"I don't think it makes a difference," Monroig said. "If you consider we've reduced our budget by $70 thousand over a 23-month time period, that's a pretty good story." According to the report three staff members saw their hourly wages increase: --Staffer #1 went from $26.45 to $32.22 per hour from 2008 to 2010 --Staffer #2 went from $12.02 to $21.15 per hour from 2008 to 2010 --Staffer #3 went from $15.39 to $18.27 per hour over a 6-month period in 2010 To see more of KSWB-TV, go to http://www.fox5sandiego.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, KSWB-TV, San Diego Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544).

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