QATV interview
Joe Catalano, affectionately known as Joe C by many locals in Quincy, is a well-known figure. He serves as a producer and on-air personality for much of Quincy Access Television’s (QATV) content. Joe is widely respected for his fairness, honesty, and friendly demeanor.
Recently, I (Joe M) contacted Joe C and proposed that he feature “A Just Quincy” on his show for an interview. To my delight, he responded and had A Just Quincy reps on. On Wednesday, my colleague Maggie McKee and I overcame our shyness and appeared on his show. Let me walk you through the experience.
The interview began with the expected question: “What is ‘A Just Quincy’?” We explained that in response to the announcement of two ordinances aimed at increasing the mayor and city council salaries, a group of Quincy citizens came together to voice their protest. Notably, we informed Joe C that, beyond the two dozen active volunteers currently working with A Just Quincy, we swiftly garnered approximately 600 signatures on a survey opposing the ordinances. Most of the respondents also chose to leave comments we promised to share with the city council.
We then moved on to the nuts and bolts. What is this “petition referendum” that we are working so diligently to get signed before a quickly approaching deadline?
Maggie and I explained that the referendum is the recourse prescribed by state law when the public wants to request a repeal of recently passed ordinances. Within 20 days of the ordinance’s signing, 12% of the registered voters need to sign the petition and submit it to the city clerk’s office. In our case, we would need approximately 8,000 signatures. This Herculean task will require the assistance of many people.
Given that this task is a substantial undertaking, and there’s a very real possibility that we may not achieve our goal, why are we attempting it? The members of A Just Quincy recognize the inherent value in our efforts. By advocating for change, we’ve already made an impact. The city council lowered their salary request by $3,000 per year, resulting in a savings of $27,000 for Quincy taxpayers next year. These positive effects will continue to ripple through the years, eventually affecting pension funds. Moreover, we believe it’s crucial to wield democracy more effectively within our city. Our hope is to empower the often-unheard voices of average Quincy residents.
We’ve discussed the value of this endeavor even if we fall short. However, we’re determined to successfully submit this petition to the Clerk’s office. What will happen if we achieve our goal?
If we successfully gather the signatures and submit them to the city clerk’s office within the allowed timeframe, the City Council may decide to repeal the ordinances voluntarily. If they opt not to do so, the decision will be put to the people of Quincy through the next city election or a special election. At that point, the residents will have the opportunity to make their choice, as intended by the city charter.
We appreciate Joe C bringing up the metaphorical elephant who had taken up residence in the room. Some have suggested, including Mayor Koch and at least two city councilors, that our efforts are a personal attack on the mayor. Let me clarify: we harbor no animosity toward the mayor. Our concern lies with the excessive salary raises and the unprofessional, undemocratic process behind them.
Within “A Just Quincy,” individual feelings toward Mayor Koch are not only irrelevant but also diverse. The notion that our actions stem from personal dislike is both inaccurate and insulting. We don’t need to like or dislike the mayor to recognize when a decision is flawed.
Furthermore, let’s consider an alternate scenario: had Anne Mahoney won the election and proposed a similar salary increase package, we would still be out there collecting signatures to oppose it.
There are many reasons these raises feel wrong. Obviously, they are enormous—people do not get 80% salary increases in real life. Also, the whole process felt icky. There was almost no pushback from the city council. Even though they received many calls from constituents voicing opposition, no one really felt the need to question the appropriateness of the raises. The only councilor who did was Councilor Dan Minton. He actually proposed lower numbers but stopped short of proposing an amendment to the ordinances. But what some people have expressed was that this just doesn’t feel in line with public service. When you go into certain fields, it’s a foregone conclusion it is not for the money.
This discussion traces back to the founding of the republic. It was a topic explored in the writings of Alexander Hamilton, who believed that public servants should receive adequate compensation to meet their necessities without being vulnerable to manipulation. However, he cautioned against excessive pay that could fuel avarice and compromise their integrity. Benjamin Franklin, in a speech to the Federal Convention, also warned against enriching leaders solely for the benefit of those who seek to do so, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a balance. To Franklin’s point, although there was no natural moment to bring this up yesterday, the fact that the council is having its own salary raised dramatically along with the mayor’s is problematic.
The people participating in A Just Quincy believe that the mayor and council should have their salaries raised just as we feel everyone deserves for their salaries to rise over time. But the drastic increases, justified by a financial analysis with a suspicious methodology and flawed conclusions, defy reason and common sense.
In 2021, Quincy enlisted Dorminson Consulting to do financial analysis for Quincy, particularly around salaries. One specific report they produced was concerning the salary of Quincy’s mayor. The Dorminson report seems to have reinvented the wheel, so to speak. With thousands of mayors across the United States and approximately 100 cities having populations around 100,000 (including Quincy), a more sensible approach would have been to select 10 or 20 cities with similar characteristics and challenges to Quincy. Using those mayors’ compensation as a dataset would have provided a more relevant comparison. There are also 14 other cities in Massachusetts with a type of government similar to Quincy’s, and those could have been used as a benchmark for comparison.
However, Dorminson took a different route by comparing the mayor’s salary with that of city administrators. City administrators are a distinct type of professional. They serve as hired experts who can be dismissed if things don’t go well. Unlike mayors, they remain non-political and are accountable to the city council. Their performance undergoes scrutiny through reviews conducted by the elected body or even the public.
Dorminson based their recommendation for the mayoral salary on data from over 40 city manager positions in Massachusetts. Interestingly, the average salary for these positions amounted to approximately $169,000. To justify why the mayor of Quincy deserved significantly more, they pointed to Quincy’s population in comparison to the smaller cities and towns overseen by these city/town administrators.
However, when critics highlighted that Dorminson’s recommendation would have placed the mayor of Quincy’s salary above that of the mayor of New York — a city with 81 times as many constituents — the size comparison suddenly lost its relevance.
Lt. Gov Kim Driscoll, former Mayor of Salem
In addition to the salary and privileges afforded them by their citizens, mayors can parlay their experience and public profiles into higher office. Examples would be Kim Driscoll, former mayor of Salem, now the Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, and Secretary of Transportation and former presidential nominee Pete Buttigieg, who gained prominence for his success as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Three mayors of mid-level cities have gone on to the presidency: Calvin Coolidge (Northampton, MA), Grover Cleveland (Buffalo, NY), and Andrew Johnson (Greenville, TN).
Mayors often go on to lucrative public-private partnerships (P3s), consulting/advising roles, corporate boards and nonprofits, education/academia, business development, etc. This diversity of opportunities underscores why mayors are not compensated like their lesser-known non-political colleagues.
Sec. of Transportation, Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg
To illustrate, literally, our point, Maggie brought some data-driven visuals. While we discuss numbers and methodology, it’s important not to lose sight of how strange and glaring these raises are. So, here we are using our sight.
In my personal opinion, this argument lacks sincerity. I don’t believe our elected leaders genuinely worry about having insufficient good opponents. It seems like an argument that sounds appealing without much critical thought. However, this issue highlights a core problem in Quincy’s democracy. People hesitate to run against the mayor because they know he will have significant financial resources (around a million dollars to spend), strong connections to power, and upsetting the likely winner is daunting.
As we discussed earlier, many competent and accomplished individuals would relish the chance to serve as mayor in this city.
Now, let’s delve into another aspect. While on my way to QATV, something struck me—perhaps it had crossed my mind before, but this time, it resonated loudly. Why are we raising these salaries now? When the Patriots or Red Sox sign a free agent, does management immediately revisit those contracts at the start of the season? No, they’ve already agreed to play for that existing salary.
This is so strange when you think about it. How is this decision, at this moment, helping the people of Quincy? These ordinances affect nine council positions and the mayor, all of whom were sworn in weeks before this conversation started. It is a strange time to give a raise, right? We aren’t in danger of losing any of these newly electeds, at least not to salary demands. There is a theory as to why it had to be now. We can talk about that in another blog post.
Thanks for going through all this with us. It’s a lot… we know.
