TAMPA -- Tampa City Council votes not to advance a proposal to raise their pay by 42 percent, to $74,000 a year.
Council member Lynn Hurtak, appointed this year, says the demands of council make it hard to hold two jobs, and council members shouldn't have to take a "vow of poverty."
Councilman Guido Maniscalco says the job is about public service, not the money.
Council chair Joseph Citro says most council members hold two jobs. "I knew exactly what I was getting into when I ran for this office, and I knew exactly what I was getting paid."
Currently Tampa city council members make just over $52-thousand a year.
In other developments, council scheduled a meeting November 1st on a proposal to give the Citizens' Review Board the power to subpoena civilians. It reviews police-involved shootings after other investigations have concluded. The board can't subpoena police officers without a change in the 1974 city charter. Several speakers representing the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee say that power is needed to bring more "transparency". James Judge, a Republican challenging Kathy Castor in Congressional District 14, says there are plenty of investigative venues, including internal reviews, the state attorney's office and the FBI. He compared giving the CRB subpoena power to Communist China. "What these people are saying is that government is not working, so the answer is more government." Judge said.
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