Editorial: We like Bartholomew, but $22,000 is too big a raise

Suburban taxpayers, you better watch out.

That's because Des Plaines City Council members just gave City Manager Mike Bartholomew a $22,000 raise.

They cited a tried-and-true argument that Bartholomew is making less than 32 other municipal managers in the area. Now he's not, but his new $179,412-a-year salary drives the average up.

So when any other municipal manager comes up for a raise and pulls out the comparisons - like we said, watch out.

That's just one of our concerns with Des Plaines leaders handing out a 14 percent raise to Bartholomew, who moved from Michigan to become Des Plaines' director of community development in 2010 and has been city manager since April 2012.

"If you're going to hire and retain good employees, you need to compensate them fairly," said Alderman Don Smith, who voted for the increase along with Mayor Matt Bogusz and aldermen Mike Charewicz, Jack Robinson and Denise Rodd.

Is a $22,000 raise for doing the same job fair? You be the judge.

But not only is it a raise, it's a raise retroactive to April 2014. Bartholomew is getting back pay for work he did so long ago, the files probably have been relegated to the shredder.

Aldermen supporting the increase say they didn't give Bartholomew a raise last year. That was their choice, and if it was a mistake, it's in the past (and Bartholomew did not, in fact, leave for greener pastures).

Taxpayers already paid for the work Bartholomew did last year, and they shouldn't have to pay for it again.

We're not questioning the quality of Bartholomew's work, and we're aware of the difficulties caused by the flight of several Des Plaines department heads to other towns in recent years.

Higher pay helps reduce that turnover, but so do other perks. The Des Plaines City Council in 2013 changed its rules to allow department heads to live out of town (Bartholomew lives in Orland Park.) He's allowed schedule flexibility, getting to work at 6:30 a.m. and often leaving in midafternoon.

A 14 percent raise has a big impact, not just on pay, but on future pension costs. Bartholomew, if he stays in government employment in Illinois for another three years, will be eligible upon retirement for a lifelong public pension that's partly based on his salary.

Altogether, this 14 percent retroactive pay increase looks pretty bad for taxpayers and pretty good for Bartholomew.

Admit it: You wish you had that deal. And you can bet municipal administrators in other suburbs are wishing that, too.