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To: Ish who wrote (5406)	11/6/2002 6:48:46 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34894

Actually, Blagojevich belongs to his father-in-law Dick Mell, who is one of the most powerful alderman in Chicago. Our new Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, belongs to her father Mike Madigan, the Illinois Speaker of the House. Family values, Chicago style. The Republican Party was decimated in Illinois yesterday. Thank you George Ryan. Is Fitzgerald now the party leader? Just to get your blood boiling a little more, you might want to know that the Chicago City Council gave itself a pay raise today. chicagotribune.com Council OKs pay raises for aldermen, mayor By Gary Washburn and Sabrina L. Miller Tribune staff reporter November 6, 2002, 2:26 PM CST As city firefighters and paramedics hooted and jeered in the visitor's gallery, the Chicago City Council today awarded pay raises to itself and other city officials, including the mayor. The council voted 40 to 9 to raise the pay of aldermen, the mayor and the city clerk and treasurer. Aldermen currently earn $85,000 a year. Their pay will go up by about $13,000 over the next four years, beginning with a 4.1-percent raise in May and a 3.5 percent increase in each of the following three years. Salaries of the mayor, clerk and treasurer will go up by about 2 percent in May and 3.5 percent in each of the next three years. Mayor Richard Daley currently earns $192,000, and the city clerk and treasurer, $118,650 each. Under state law, aldermen must set their salaries six months before the beginning of the next term or be locked into their current salaries for the next four years. Today was the deadline for making the decision. The vote came even as firefighters and paramedics, who have not had a pay increase since their contract expired in 1999, continue marathon contract negotiations with the city. As a concession to workers employed by city contractors, aldermen voted 49-0 today to hike the living wage by 19 percent, increasing hourly pay to $9.05 from $7.60. The measure takes effect Jan. 1 and will be indexed to increases in the federal cost-of-living adjustment, providing raises each July 1. Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th), who said he never before voted in favor of a pay increase, asserted aldermen deserve the one was passed today. “I know my colleagues,” he said. “I know the work they put in. I know the kind of toll it takes on your life and your family’s life. I think my colleagues deserve a pay increase because they have done the work that needs to be done and they have been there to see it gets done the right way.” “I did the math,” Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) said after the council meeting. “I think the first year it comes to $1.33 an hour. So I ask, am I worth a $1.33 cent an hour raise? Yeah, I think so for what I do.” Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune