Democrat Mayor BETRAYAL – She Requested This?!

Lori Lightfoot Proposes Pay Raise for Herself

(ConservativeSense.com) – Crime in Chicago has chronically become so bad that both urban dictionaries and entertainment television have dubbed the city Chi-raq. It’s because of the violence, larceny, drugs and murders in the nation’s third-largest metropolis — they liken it to the war zone of Iraq. Given that the Windy City’s homicide rate is up approximately 35% this year compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic), residents might find it a bit odd that Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed a raise for herself in her $16.4 billion budget.

On Wednesday, October 26, at the city council meeting, Lightfoot delivered her 2023 budget address and proposed raising her salary from $216,210 a year to $227,020 annually, effective January 1, 2024. She argued the Chicago mayor’s salary hasn’t increased since 2006, while aldermen salaries have increased from $95,000 to $142,000 on average over that same timeframe.

"Why is that a good use of city funds?"

Lori Lightfoot is confronted for trying to give herself a pay raise as Chicago is dealing a wave of violent crime. pic.twitter.com/YFMP8LmkFn

— MRCTV (@mrctv) October 27, 2022

Yet her proposal wasn’t just for a one-time increase. Instead, she suggested a recurring annual increase tied to the Consumer Price Index for Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, capped at 5%. Further, she included the City Clerk and Treasurer in the annual salary increase proposal. As 17 current aldermen have opted to do this year, the proposal includes an option for the mayor and officers to refuse the raises each year.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is introducing an ordinance to give the mayor an annual inflation raise capped at 5 percent, with an option to opt out when it’s too politically hot pic.twitter.com/6I7gf1LxZA

— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) October 26, 2022

In the face of many issues Chicago is facing, Alderman Brendan Reilly explained why he and 16 others had decided to forego their raises and why Lightfoot’s proposal was causing strife. He said that since so many residents were struggling with inflation, he believes “it’s important as leaders that we forgo these raises.”

The city council would have to approve the proposed ordinance or any pay raises. The council is currently in budget negotiations with the mayor and her staff, and observers expect final approvals by mid to late November.