Street roots
Jan. 17,2014
Solidarity in
city salaries
Seattle’s new council m em ber ponies
up her own paycheck toward the $15
minimum-wage movement
BY AARON BURKHALTER
CO N TR IB UTIN G WRITER
shama Sawant took her oath of office
Jan. 6 in front of hundreds at Seattle
City Hall. She plans to take home an
“average worker’s wage” and donate the
rest of her $120,000 annual salary to a
campaign to create a $15-an-hour minimum
wage and other social-justice causes.
Kshama Sawant took the same oath of
office as fellow Seattle City Councilmembers
Sally Bagshaw, Nick Licata and Mike
Forecast Council. The pay goes up slightly
O’Brien when she was sworn in Jan 6. But
each year, but never goes down, Ishino said.
at the end of January, Seattle’s newest
City councilmembers’ salaries have gone
councilmember will be taking home a very
up almost 25 percent from 2,005 when
different salary.
councilmembers made between $93,960 and
Sawant intends to keep only a fraction of
$96,507 before taxes.
the nearly $120,000 annual salary paid to
The budget includes information on how
each Seattle City Councilmember and
much each councilmember will receive, but
donate the rest to a campaign to create a
local $15-an-hour minimum wage and other , unlike other budget items, it attracts little
attention.
social justice causes.
“It’s not discussed at all,” Ishino said.
Philip Locker, Sawant’s campaign
“They’re advised of what the amount will
manager, said her office will be accountable
be, and it becomes part of the budget that’s
to local people, not corporate interests.
“How could she do that if she’s taking the passed.”
Seattle’s lawmakers are among the
salary of a 1-percenter?” Locker said.
nation’s most highly paid; public servants.
Sawant declined to be interviewed for
According to a 2011 study by The Pew
this story. Locker said she was too busy
Charitable Trusts Philadelphia Research
with inaugural activities.
K
U7
website to show where she donates a
portion of her salary, Locker said.
What Sawant will keep and where she will
donate her money is being determined, he
said. The median household income in ...
Seattle is $63,470, according to theU.S.
Census.
Sawant won’t be the first to redistribute
her city earnings. Other Seattle
councilmembers already donate a portion of
their salary, but do so quietly, said
councilmember Sally Bagshaw. Bagshaw
said before taking office in 2009, she
decided to donate a portion of her salary,
but she declined to say how much she
donates.
“You’d be shocked at how much money
Thus fay, councilmenxbers’ salaries, have
Deen a non-issue. Sawant’s move could put;
Initiative, members of the Los Angeles City
Comrcilmake the most, "at $178^789. At
we (councilmembers) give away,” Bagshaw
said.
council pay at the center of the debate over
economic inequality.
The Seattle City Council setsits salary
each year as it finalizes the budget, said Eric
Ishino, finance manager for the city’s
legislative department. The salaries are
based on information collected from the
Puget Sound Economic Forecaster and the
Washington State Economic and Revenue
nearly $120,000 per year, Seattle
councilmembers take home more than their
counterparts in Boston and Chicago.
“It’s a scandal,” Locker said.
Portland city commissioners make about
$100,000.
When Sawant accepts her first paycheck
this month, she will set up a fund to support
social justice movements and launch a
Sawant, a Seattle Central Community
College economics professor, beat 16-year
incumbent Richard Conlin with an Oceupy-
inspired campaign platform of securing a
$15-an-hour minimum wage and decrying
corporate politics at city hall.
Oregon
Opportunity
Vve
Network
Please join, us on Thursday, January 30 at noon in
downtown Portland for a public forum with
Housing Commissioner Dan Saltzman and
Portland Housing Bureau Director Traci Manning.
This is an important opportunity to hear Dan and
Traci's vision for affordable housing and the
challenges and opportunities in the year ahead.
Portland Public Forum with Commissioner
Dan Saltzman and Portland Housing Bureau
Director Traci Manning
Thursday, January 30,2014
Noon -1:15 pm (doors open at 11:30)
First Unitarian Church, Buchan Room,
1226 SW Salmon Street, Portland 97204
The forum is free and open to alf. This is a brown-bag event - bring your lunch; water, coffee and
cookies provided. These forums are part of an ongoing series provided by Oregon Opportunity
Network through a grant from Portland Housing Bureau.
Vendors are regular contributors to Street Roots’ content, as
columnists, poets a n d artists. Look fo r your favorite vendor’s
writings in each edition o f the paper.
Seattle City Council
member-elect
K sham a Saw ant
addresses the crowd
d uring a rally to
raise the hourly
m in im u m wage to
$15 fo r fast-food
workers a t City H all
in Seattle.
REUTERS/DAVID RYDER
R eprinted fro m R eal Change Newspaper,
Seattle, Wash.
n
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