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First Posted: 1/14/2009

RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent
SCRANTON – Over a crowd of boisterous protesters, City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to rescind a resolution offering pay raises to Mayor Chris Doherty, council members and city controller Roseann Novembrino.

Scranton City council member Robert E. McGoff Jr.(center) makes a motion to remove proposed ordinances raising the saleries of the mayor and other City officials from the agenda at the meeting on Tuesday evening.to his right are council members Janet Evans and Judy Gatelli, and to his left are members Bill Courtright, and Sherry N. Fanucci. (Don Carey/Times Leader Photo)
Don Carey

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Prior to the meeting, about 100 protesters from the city police and fire unions and Scranton-Lackawanna Taxpayers Association crammed the front steps of City Hall and then moved into the council chambers for the meeting.
Council President Robert McGoff took responsibility for placing the raise issue on the meeting agenda. He said he believes the mayor is “woefully underpaid” when compared to other cities in Pennsylvania.
He also said the raise amounts were “arbitrarily” determined and designed only to initiate a public discussion. They were not “set in stone” and not influenced in any way by the mayor or other city officials.
The amounts being considered included a $35,000 per year raise for the mayor, bringing his salary to $90,000; council members to $20,000 annually from $12,500 and Novembrino to $55,000, up $10,000.
McGoff read a letter from Novembrino, who asked the city not to give her a raise in light of the economic challenges it faces and the unresolved police and fire department contracts. A loud applause followed as taxpayers in the audience lauded her stance.
He told the public he “understands their strong feelings” against the raises, then moved to have the item scratched.
Council member Janet Evans said she knew she would not support any raises when in late 2008 fellow member Judy Gatelli first mentioned the mayor’s increase. She added she will continue to fight any efforts for raises until the police and fire department personnel, who have not received a raise in eight years, get their contract issues resolved.
Evans added with 38 percent of Scranton residents living on Social Security, 20 percent at the poverty level or below and 7 percent unemployment, council should be “ashamed” for even addressing the idea.
Gatelli added she does not support the raises either, adding the amounts were “a little over the top.”
She did make a point to add that Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton earns about $80,000, significantly higher than Doherty.
The mayor’s low salary makes the position only viable for the wealthy, she added. If the job paid more, the city would probably get better candidates for the position.
Council member Sherry Fanucci agrees the mayor is underpaid and the council should look at his and other salaries, but now is not the time. She added the raise is not for Doherty, but the next mayor, whomever that may be.
Doherty has not been given a raise since in office, she added.
Fanucci said the negative attention was more of an opportunity for “grandstanding” taken by the city’s police and fire unions and taxpayer association.
She admitted part of the problem is a lack of communication between council members, which contributed to the misunderstanding. Without specifying anyone, she said the council communications are held for when “the camera is on.”
Robert “Ozzie” Quinn from the taxpayer association admonished the council, saying they were trying to “wiggle out” from their original plans.
“I think when you saw that crowd it changed your mind,” he said.