Boston mayor vetoes proposal to give herself and council members a 20% raise

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu vetoed a proposal this week that aimed to give 20 percent raises to city council members and to the mayor herself, saying the amount of the pay increase proposed was too high and not fair to other government and essential employees.

The proposal, introduced after Wu herself brought up the idea of pay raises for senior city officials, included a measure that would raise the pay for city council members by more than the original amount the mayor expected. Her original proposal recommended the mayoral salary be upped to $230,000 and councilors’ salaries to $115,000.

The proposal approved by the council and sent to the mayor for approval would increase councilors’ pay from $103,500 a year to $125,000, and the mayor’s salary from $207,000 to $250,000.

Wu informed the council members via a filing she made just before a council meeting on Wednesday that she had vetoed the measure, and re-filed her request for the council to amend the salary amounts to be more in line with “the increases that our frontline workers have received and are receiving in the contracts that we continue to settle.”

Wu was tasked upon taking office with negotiating new contracts for all city workers after their collective bargaining contracts had expired.

If the council overrides the mayor’s veto with a two-thirds majority, the salary increases included in their proposal would be enacted.