Council member O’Loughlin’s memo to the Town Board to increase the Supervisor’s pay by 33 1/3 percent from $75,000 to $100,000 has caused irritation and confusion among the voters.
The people of Amherst have been bombarded with information how our budget is the highest ever and that our bonding rate may be lowered, costing Amherst to pay millions more when we bond projects. Money is once again a scarce item in this year’s budget. The Supervisor borrowed $6.5 million from our safety blanket fund to help balance the budget.
Mr. O’Loughlin is aware of Amherst’s severe money shortage, especially this year. Why would he want to spend more money when no one else is getting a raise on the Town Board? Is he trying to buy insurance if he loses his County race for County Clerk for one of the fat, high paying patronage jobs Amherst gives out to the losers? Is he afraid Dr. Mohan will put out negative words about him and hurt his slim chance of winning the County election?
The irony of this strange move is O’Loughlin has a history of being very tight when it came to spending money when he didn’t have to.
Supervisor Mohan hasn’t said, “No” to this raise. I guess the man who said he would work for a dollar a day meant he would do that unless he was offered $100,000 dollars a year. That’s a whole different story.