Council worries raises will jeopardize tax levy

Judge Cunning says he won't rescind raises given to court employees.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CAMPBELL -- City officials are concerned that pay raises given to municipal court employees here July 1 could hurt the chances of passing a property tax levy in the November general election.
Council will meet in special session at 6 p.m. Wednesday to pass legislation to put the levy, which would raise about $250,000 a year, on the ballot, said council President William Van Such.
At an unannounced special council meeting Wednesday, council members and Mayor John Dill met with Judge Patrick P. Cunning and his staff to voice their dismay about the raises. The city has been in fiscal emergency since 2004 and has numerous employees laid off for lack of money.
Judge Cunning said he understands that the community is under financial duress.
"I am not a loose cannon. I don't want the perception to be that the court is not sensitive to the city's needs," Judge Cunning said.
However, he said the court is a separate entity and council can't tell it what to do.
The raises in question
The judge said he wants to work with council, but said he will not rescind the June 30 journal entry that ordered 9 percent to 10 percent pay increases for Mary Helen Muntean, clerk of court, and Christine Maker, bailiff/deputy clerk.
Muntean will now be paid $39,050 a year and Maker, $23,650, according to John Leskovyansky, finance director.
In addition, Jean A. Darkadakis, computer clerk/deputy clerk, was promoted from part time, working 19 hours a week at $12 per hour, to full-time status, with an annual wage of $20,080. She also now receives health insurance, which is $1,231.75 a month for family coverage. Full-time status is accompanied by additional costs to the city, such as contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System and paid vacation and holidays.
Judge Cunning said he granted the raises because they are deserved and because there is money available in various funds to cover the additional cost. He noted that Darkadakis will be paid out of the computer fund, which he said has a $50,000 balance.
The judge also noted that the court generated $28,838 more for the general fund in 2005 than it cost to operate the court.
Judge Cunning said he believes the public outrage was not because raises were given, but because it was reported that Darkadakis received a 379 percent wage increase, a figure he said is too high.
Recent cutbacks
However, Dill and members of council disagreed.
The reason for the outrage and Wednesday's meeting were the raises themselves, not the amount, Dill said.
Van Such said the raises fly in the face of what council has been trying to do to cut costs. Employees who have been laid off want to know why they aren't being called back to work if the city has money, he said.
Van Such, finance committee chairman, said council members took a cut in pay totaling $5,400 per year; the law director took a $6,250 a year cut; and the Civil Service Commission members, a combined $1,000, to help the city.
In addition, the city saved $122,940 by not replacing people who retired, and laid off four firefighters and two street department workers, saving $141,616 and $63,823, respectively.
Now, with the raises in the court and negotiations with other employees coming up, "We're in a pickle barrel," Van Such said.
Dill said people are outraged at any increase given the situation the city is in.
"It's not that I don't think everybody deserves a raise. But, we aren't a wealthy community. We have to live within our means," the mayor said.