Gallatin Co. Commissioners Vote to Raise Their Own Pay by 10%

"For the 4th year in a row, Gallatin County proposes a pay raise for elected officials. Meanwhile, people are getting taxed out of their homes." -Kendall Cotton

Now, in defense of the Gallatin County Commissioners (all three are Democrats)- the pay raise was approved by the Compensation Committee. Oh wait, all three commissioners are on the compensation committee...and all three voted to raise their own pay by 10%. So there goes that argument.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle broke the news, quoting Gallatin County Commissioner Zach Brown as supporting his own pay raise by saying, “The aspiration of 10% is something that I support, and I’m philosophically aligned with that. Ultimately, this committee process is a recommendation to the commission that we factor into budgetary conversations.”

According to the Chronicle, "Brown says raises are necessary to attract and retain qualified elected officials." Wait, so is he saying that he is ready to step down unless he is able to raise his own pay?

The part that gets me is the fact that they sit on the very compensation committee that moved to boost their pay by 10%, especially after these commissioners have increased their own pay for the last 3 years in a row.

I joked on the air with one of our radio colleagues about how we are going to start our own compensation committee at the radio station. I will chair the committee, he can be the vice chair. And- our buddy John Jackson (the Joker from X @pvtjokerus) can be the "citizen member" of the compensation committee. Let's meet this afternoon and raise our pay by 10%!

Our Mondakistan bureau chief, Tim in Savage, is already demanding a raise from the compensation committee now too...