No city manager is worth $800,000

Rizzo’s $800,000 salary is not a violation of the law, assuming there is no local ordinance capping the salary a city employee can be paid. From the looks of things, there is no such city rule. In fact, his contract even entitles him to a 12 percent raise every year. That is not the case for employees at the federal government level, though. President Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, for example, is capped at the highest salary level in the administration, $172,200 annually. Many states also have salary scales and caps mandated by law. Compensation caps for cities should be on the table as a viable reform option.

Now the city council is planning to seek the resignation of Rizzo, his deputy and the police of chief, the Time’s reports, but that will only help Rizzo and his colleagues cash out with more money. All three are under contract with the city and are prevented from dismissal without cause. If the city council wants them gone, they will likely have to buy out their contracts or offer up even more retirement benefits. The Time’s also learned that the council plans to cut back their salaries, too. They should do that but that is not enough. They should resign in shame for gaming the system and allowing other’s under their purview to do the same.