Mayor critical of coverage about his pay
Longtime Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson this week accused the Daily Herald of "skewed" reporting in articles and an editorial on pay raises for elected officials.
Johnson took 12 minutes of his mayor's report at Tuesday's board meeting to lambaste the newspaper's coverage of pay raises approved for the mayor's office at the last board meeting.
He compared the Daily Herald, the state's third-largest newspaper, to tabloids National Enquirer and Star.
"I believe (the newspaper) purposely painted this community in a bad light and the officials that represent this community," Johnson said. "And that's wrong."
In a unanimous vote, trustees on April 8 OK'd setting a new pay scale for the office of mayor that automatically increased pay based on longevity.
If Johnson wins a fourth term next spring, his pay would increase by $8,000 to $28,000 and go up for every additional year in office. By the sixth term, the mayor would see his salary capped at $40,000.
Johnson refused to comment when asked about the pay raise immediately after the meeting and the next day, saying he was unhappy with the paper's recent coverage. Village Manager Ray Rummel and other trustees couldn't be reached for comment at the time.
Johnson said Tuesday the board researched what other suburbs pay their mayors and wanted to dole out a fair salary that would put the village's elected officials in the "middle of the pack."
Trustees on April 8 also increased pay for their offices starting after next spring's election. The trustees' yearly salary would increase from $4,200 to $6,000.
The new pay scale for the mayor's office was approved without discussion as part of the board's consent agenda, and a copy of the details of the raise wasn't made available until the next morning through the clerk's office.
The lead story April 10 in the Elk Grove edition focused on how unusual the system was in that it would see a new mayor get an initial salary of $8,000, one-fifth the salary of a longtime incumbent.
A Daily Herald editorial on April 13 suggested that while the pay increase likely was justified, the timing was poor because of the weak economy.
Toward the very end of its news story, the paper looked at other towns where longtime mayors served to see if longevity was a factor in their pay. It wasn't.
At this week's village board meeting, Johnson accused the Daily Herald of including only the salaries of longtime mayors in Schaumburg and Palatine to "make Elk Grove Village look like it's doing wrong by its residents."
He said his and the board members' compensation is all-inclusive, while other towns, including those two, pay additional fees for things that can include serving as liquor commissioner, attending meetings, car allowance and medical insurance.
Johnson said his salary should have been compared to the total compensation of the mayors in the other towns and that the story should have included other suburbs, some of which either have raised pay a greater percentage than Elk Grove, or which have higher compensation than Elk Grove.
He specifically mentioned Des Plaines, Hoffman Estates and Rosemont, all of whose mayors have been in office less time than Johnson.
Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens, who took office a year ago and who now earns $90,000 a year plus $10,000 for his role as liquor commissioner, would earn $110,000 plus $15,000 as liquor commissioner if he wins election in 2009.
In Hoffman Estates, trustees raised the mayor's pay following the next election from $15,000 to $25,000. The mayor also will get $9,600 as liquor control commissioner and $100 per board meeting.
Des Plaines Mayor Tony Arredia's salary is $9,600 a year, plus he gets a car from the city and a spending allowance of $200 a month. In Des Plaines, the mayor is bound by term limits after a voter referendum so Arredia must leave office next spring after two terms.