NewsWhore
10-06-2010, 03:40 PM
Song lyrics aside, Santiago city council members have begun to collect their RD$100,000 pay checks this month, instead of the RD$80,000 that they earned as their fixed salary. This has generated criticism from several quarters. The council members' salary was previously RD$65,000 plus RD$15,000 for commissions which brought the total to RD$80,000, as reported in Diario Libre.
The provincial coordinator of the Citizen Participation movement, university professor Paulino Sarita, described the pay increase as a joke and a provocation for the people of Santiago. "The people of Santiago cannot feel good about this increase because most of these salaries are unjustifiable", he said.
The president of the Santiago Traders Association (Asocosa), Jose Ceballos said he felt that the wage increase was disproportionate in relation to the work done by the council members. Nonetheless, PRD council member Carlos Juan Liz defended the increase on the grounds that the council members have a lot of "social commitments" within the districts that elected them. Early last year, Diario Libre revealed that the council members had approved a resolution that increased their salaries to RD$100,000, but former Mayor Jose Enrique Sued rejected the measure. In contrast, current Mayor Gilberto Serulle decided to approve the measure. However, he did not accept the RD$55,000 salary increase that was contained in that resolution.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
The provincial coordinator of the Citizen Participation movement, university professor Paulino Sarita, described the pay increase as a joke and a provocation for the people of Santiago. "The people of Santiago cannot feel good about this increase because most of these salaries are unjustifiable", he said.
The president of the Santiago Traders Association (Asocosa), Jose Ceballos said he felt that the wage increase was disproportionate in relation to the work done by the council members. Nonetheless, PRD council member Carlos Juan Liz defended the increase on the grounds that the council members have a lot of "social commitments" within the districts that elected them. Early last year, Diario Libre revealed that the council members had approved a resolution that increased their salaries to RD$100,000, but former Mayor Jose Enrique Sued rejected the measure. In contrast, current Mayor Gilberto Serulle decided to approve the measure. However, he did not accept the RD$55,000 salary increase that was contained in that resolution.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)