fbpx
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Legal Notices
Lagniappe Mobile
  • News
    • Cover Story
    • Latest
    • Serial Stories
    • Bay Briefs
    • Community News
    • Open Documents
    • e-Edition
  • Baldwin
  • Commentary
    • Damn the Torpedoes
    • Hidden Agenda
    • Beltway Beat
    • The Real Deal
    • Weather Things
    • The Gadfly
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Cuisine
    • The Dish
    • Word of Mouth
    • Beer and Loathing
    • Cuisine Directory
  • Arts
    • Artifice
    • Art Gallery
    • The Reel World
    • Calendar
  • Music
    • Music Feature
    • Music Briefs
    • Music Listings
    • Submissions
  • Sports
    • The Score
    • The Starting Line-Up
    • From Behind The Mic
    • Upon Further Review
  • Style
    • Media Frenzy
    • Mobile Magnified
    • Horoscopes
    • Master Gardeners
    • Style Feature
  • Lagnia-POD

Select Page

City employee group files suit over scrapped pay raises

Posted by Rob Holbert | Jan 15, 2014 | News | 0 |

A group of about 67 municipal employees filed a restraining order Jan. 13 against Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and Finance Director Paul Wesch, claiming the mayor broke protocol Dec. 30 by canceling New Year pay raises promised by the previous administration.

Wesley Young, president of the City of Mobile United Public Service Workers, Inc., said the group filed the injunction because Stimpson sidestepped the City Council’s authority to rescind the raises and rewrite the budget.

“I was employed by the city for 36 years and have been the president of this organization for 21 years, and I have never seen a new mayor come in and rescind raises that were approved by a 6-to-1 vote by the City Council,” Young said.

A 2.5 percent raise promoted by former mayor Sam Jones in an election year was indeed approved by the City Council last September, but a forensic audit completed since Stimpson took office revealed the 2014 budget was unbalanced when passed, and the city was running a $15,810,643 deficit in the previous budget. State law requires Mobile to pass a balanced budget, so Stimpson has decided he would be resubmitting a budget with several spending changes, including doing away with the raise Jones promised.


LAWSUIT

 

Pay Raise Injunction (Text)


Stimpson said he was hoping to have a new budget ready to present to the City Council by February and in an email to employees, said no raise would be recommended until “critical budget shortfalls” were addressed. The Mobile Personnel Board has the ultimate vote on proposed raises. Meanwhile, employees of the city have not had a raise in more than seven years.

“We are aware of the complaint and the City Attorney’s office is in the process of reviewing it,” said George Talbot, the mayor’s spokesman. “The decision not to implement the raises at this time was dictated by the discovery of significant shortfalls in the current city budget. The law clearly states that the budget must be balanced and the administration is working diligently to return the city to solid financial footing.”

Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Sarah Stewart set a hearing date of Jan. 29 in the injunction. The City of Mobile United Public Service Workers publicly endorsed Jones’ mayoral campaign, but Young said the injunction was not politically motivated. 

This page is available to our subscribers. Join us right now to get the latest local news from local reporters for local readers.

The best deal is found by clicking here. Click here right now to find out more. Check it out.

Already a member of the Lagniappe family? Sign in by clicking here

Share:

Rate:

PreviousHangout Fest announces 2014 line-up; The Black Keys, The Killers, Jack Johnson, The Avett Brothers headline
NextDay Two of Fisher trial focuses on defendants’ whereabouts

About The Author

Rob Holbert

Rob Holbert

Rob Holbert is co-publisher and managing editor of Lagniappe, Mobile’s independent newspaper. Rob helped found the newspaper after a career that started as a police reporter and columnist at the Mississippi Press in Pascagoula. He followed that with a stint as a deputy press secretary for then-U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott in Washington, D.C. After leaving Capitol Hill, Rob worked ghost-writing opinion articles for publication in some of the nation’s largest newspapers. From 1999 through Aug. 2010 he was the faculty adviser for the University of South Alabama student newspaper, The Vanguard, and in 2002 started Lagniappe with his business partner Ashley Trice. The paper now prints 30,000 copies every week and is distributed at more than 1,300 locations around Mobile and Baldwin Counties. According to Scarborough Research, Lagniappe now has more than 80,000 readers each week, with close to a quarter of that coming online. The paper began publishing weekly at the beginning of April 2014.

Related Posts

Legislative annexation an ‘unusual’ option for Mobile

Legislative annexation an ‘unusual’ option for Mobile

January 6, 2022

It’s called March Madness for a reason; picking the bracket

It’s called March Madness for a reason; picking the bracket

March 15, 2021

Council rejects zoning changes in Bayou La Batre

Council rejects zoning changes in Bayou La Batre

June 13, 2018

Approval to sell alcohol could be coming for Carmike Wynnsong 16

Approval to sell alcohol could be coming for Carmike Wynnsong 16

September 3, 2014

Recommended Stories

Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things

By Ashley Trice

Wordles can hurt us

By Rob Holbert

The Great Anvil Shoot of Laurel, Mississippi

By Andy MacDonald

ACAC steps to bat with new exhibit

By Kevin Lee

The Strays finally drop full-length album

By Stephen Centanni

  • Advertising
  • About Us
  • Contacts
  • Jobs
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Join the Sunday Brunch Newsletter

Search This Site

Browse the Archives

© Lagniappe Mobile 2022