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Mayor Suttle and the city council have not been getting along in the last few weeks. On Tuesday following a budget vote, the mayor appeared to be calling a truce when it comes to the battle over pay raises he gave out to four department heads.
The city council voted unanimously to strip $85,000 in raises from the budget -- raises the mayor had granted and taxpayers have been paying since January.
The mayor has apologized for not giving the council a heads-up on the pay raises, but has remained steadfast that, as long as he stays within a budget, he can give a raise to whomever he wants.
So will he ignore the council's cuts and pay the raises anyway? He will not according to spokesperson Aida Amoura. "He's going to respect that this time around. But what he's trying to say to the city council now is we need to move forward -- we have way too many things to worry about that this. This is a very small amount of money."
Part of the deal may be that the mayor is pleased the council agreed and even surpassed amounts of other items in the budget -- such as spending more to tear down condemned homes, extend truancy programs and provide more dollars for tourism.
The four department heads, who have saved the city millions according to the mayor and deserved the raises, have been getting the boost in pay since the first of the year.
The budget cuts from the council are for 2013.
It's not clear if the raises stop now or if they take effect in 2013.
Here's what the council took away in the budget: $28,000 from chief-of-staff, $28,000 from finance director, $18,000 from library director and $10,000 from the public works director.
The mayor said he won't veto any of the changes made in the budget by the council.
