Warren councilman wants freeze on officials’ pay

By ED RUNYAN

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Councilman Al Novak hopes to bring to a vote Feb. 23 a measure he sponsored that freezes the pay and increases the co-pay on health care premiums for some elected and appointed city officials.

The measures won’t affect council members because their pay already is frozen and they don’t receive health care.

But the legislation is needed because the four union-contracts approved at Wednesday’s city council meeting contain language that says union workers will get pay raises if elected officials get them, Novak said.

The legislation would affect pay starting in 2012, when new terms for nearly all elected Warren officials begin.

“Full-time officials should be in the same position as the bargaining units,” Novak said.

The legislation calls for a wage freeze and an increase in the health-care co-pay from 10 percent to 20 percent.

Novak said the new union contracts call for a 20 percent co-pay for all employees hired from now on.

Novak’s legislation would affect elected officials such as the mayor and law director, and those working under them, such as the deputy auditor or assistant law director.

Auditor David Griffing said it wouldn’t affect him much because his wages have not increased in the last two years, and he doesn’t use much health care. Griffing gave back his 2.5 percent pay increase in 2009 and received none in 2010.

Griffing is unopposed in the May primary. No Republican is running for auditor so far either.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.