TRICKLE DROWNING in Newburyport

Recently absent from the November 14 Budget and Finance Committee hearing was the mayor requesting a 19.6% pay raise. Too lowly a thing to do? Perhaps this will be the job of the incoming Chief of Staff?

The chief librarian had been in the job a few months when a 9% pay raise was granted by the mayor.

In the past 5 years, taxes…aka fees, charges, property taxes, trash bag purchases and more…have risen 20%. This statistic cited by a City Councilor at the last City Council meeting.

I’m retired. My income changes have come from SSI cost of living increases and been lowered by most other charges. Hard to keep smiling.

Have the reigns of the spending race horses in city hall been tossed into the septic silt of the Merrimack?

Will the requested mayor’s salary be trickled down to a downtown pub, a restaurant or two and a new pair of sneakers? Is this Newburyport’s new “Economic Stimulus Plan?” Did the mayor look into the mirror of a downtown pub, see himself smile and think his increased bank account would be the best way to boost the local economy?

Were GAGA members of the City Council heard to say?

“What can I do for you, mayor.”

“Anything you need, mayor.”

“Just name it, mayor.”

“I’ve got your back, mayor.”

“I rarely question you, mayor.”

Residents who had lined up by the Little Food Pantry on State Street seemed confused. One said she thought economic stimulus was supposed to be aimed at “us.”

Maybe trickle drowning will help the spas, boutiques, private tutors, personal chefs and yacht owners?