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June 10,,2009
Councilmember Chu Releases Statement Regarding City Council
Salary Reduction
(San José, CA) –As
the City of San Jose is facing a $73 million deficit this
year, one response is reducing salary expenses. On Tuesday
June 9, 2009, Mayor and City Councilmembers voted to reduce
their salaries by 3.75% . Councilmember Kansen Chu believes
that as City Councilmember, he should lead by example, therefore
he will take a voluntary cut of 4% and additional $150 cut
on his car allowance for the next year. “These are difficult
times for everyone, but as an elected official I am in a unique
position to send a message and lead by example,” he
said. “Because of the voluntary cuts, I also have to
tighten my belt, so to speak, but also feel that it sends
an important message to the San Jose residents and City employees.”
The City of San Jose is faced with $73 million deficit as
the local economy is faced with recession and approximately
an 11% unemployment rate. Salary Setting Commission is a voluntary
resident body commission reviews the Mayor and Council Salaries
and makes its proposals to the Council for approval. Their
recommendations were to freeze all wages, and car allowances
for the next two years. City Council and the Mayor voted overwhelmingly
to reduce their pay for an additional 3.75% and keep the reduction
of car allowance on a voluntary basis.
Every two years the Salary Setting Commission presents their
proposals before the City Council for their salary and allowance
reviews. In May of 2007, the City Council voted to remove
the salary setting from the City Council and to pursuit a
charter change to have an independent body to control the
process. “I believe that we should take the salary setting
process out of the political process as the Council had voted
for back in 2007, said Councilmember Chu. “Until then,
this will remain a contentious and purely political process
as it has in the past.”
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Edesa Bitbadal, Chief of Staff
office 408-535-4904
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