What do you do if you’re behind in the polls and struggling to get attention? Well, Denver mayoral candidate Carol Boigon has decided to grandstand on a populist issue, which we find, at the very least, unseemly.
The Denver City Council voted last week to give pay raises to future council members and the mayor, starting in 2013. It wasn’t a politically easy vote — there’s never a good time to increase the pay of public servants, after all — but Boigon has decided to politicize the decision. She voted against the pay hike, but two of her opponents — Michael Hancock and Doug Linkhart — voted for it.
Sensing an opportunity to gain some traction in a race where few candidates, if any, have, Boigon launched a petition campaign to ask future city officeholders to forgo the raises. It has no force of law behind it; it’s merely Boigon’s way of stirring up some class warfare. You know, remind Denverites that the City Council is out of touch with the little guy.
“This is giving people a vehicle to express their point of view,” she said.
We’re guessing that if the economy is still sluggish in 2013, most City Council members will forgo the 3.3 percent raise, or donate it back to the city or a charity. They won’t need a petition from Boigon to see the political writing on the wall.
Boigon launched a TV ad Wednesday on this issue and instead of just jabbing at Hancock and Linkhart, she included cardboard cutouts of James Mejia and Chris Romer, who aren’t even on city council and who have said they opposed the raise.
That’s moving beyond unseemly.
We certainly understand why some on the council voted against it. But we also don’t think the City Council should become a playground for only the well-heeled, which it could become if average citizens with families can’t afford to run.
As we have argued, while council members’ salary is substantial, it will have gone unchanged for six years before the first raise kicks in. We know this is a time of sacrifice by many, but it also is important for the future of the city to have qualified, credible candidates willing to run and serve in elected office.
Grandstanding on this issue serves to benefit only one person: Boigon. And the jury is still out on that one.
