Mayor should do the honorable thing, reject her pay raise

Just when we saw Mayor Suzette Cooke get a $20,000 cash payout, she now gets a huge $35,808 annual pay hike.

So I guess Kent also has the money now to fix roads, provide schools with supplies, update the police station and pay off the ShoWare Center’s debts?

Seems a short time ago Mayor Cooke asked for a license tab/property tax increase. Am I missing something?

I would love to see an honest breakdown of the mayor’s typical “work day.” What she actually does in an eight-hour day to earn $66.35 an hour. And in a 40-hour work week? And unused vacation? It should be “use it, or lose it.”

Then there’s the issue of the five commissioners appointed by Cooke – Greg Haffner, Mizanur Rahman, Corren Jones, Kelly Beckley and Mason Hudson. What are their qualifications, background, expertise and are they friends or related to Cooke? How were they found?

Since taxpayers foot the mayor’s salary, any raise should be put to a vote from all Kent property owners. Or, at least, these commissioners should be voted in, not appointed. Imagine, if us citizens could “appoint” five friends/family members to determine our salaries in our workplace at the company’s expense?

We are very angry about this. These commissioners are throwing away our money. They are using the excuse “to attract people with skills required to serve as mayor.” Well, just what are those skills? Usually, it’s who can raise the most campaign money.

I wonder if next week’s paper will have Mayor Cooke getting another cash sum, maybe a “golden handshake” or another windfall from these benevolent commissioners? She must have a good accountant to keep up with all this taxpayer money coming her way. No wonder she is always smiling in pictures.

Mayor Cooke, the honorable thing to do would be to reject the raise and the $20,000 payout coming and put it in the fund for Kent projects. You should be embarrassed to take this when so many things in Kent need attention and fixing.

– Richard Schurk