July 17, 2026
I HAVE FINALLY FOUND IT. God It’s been driving me crazy and this blog is only a few weeks old. I’ve actually been driving my boyfriend crazy with this, The whole week I didn’t know what to write about. I’ve been looking for the perfect little bit of uplifting news to focus on for this blog. I was leaning towards the world cup and the final being this week.GO SPAIN! But I already covered the world cup. And then I wanted to cover some politics but I didn’t want to write two entries on the gloom and doom of the reemergence of war with Iran.
Today, I came across a heartwarming bit of political news, which I feel helps offset the very negative tone of my last entry. Although, I should warn you that with this and with any political news I may cover, I can tend to be a bit cynical and biased. I will try my best not to. Earlier today, the New York City Council held a vote to raise the salaries of themselves in addition to the salary of the mayor and other top elected officials in the city. They passed this vote with a majority of 42/6, which is apparently a rare majority. This is the part where I may show some cynicism, simply because the ability to vote in order to raise your own salary seems like the most obvious yes vote that I would expect any politician to make. I mean, finally a job where you don’t have to negotiate a raise or work for a promotion, you just vote to make more money. It seems like the obvious decision that would be made.
However, apparently there has not been a salary increase for the city council members nor the other elected officials since 2016, despite the fact that the power to increase their salary was just a vote away. These votes are incredibly rare, mostly credited to the poor publicity that incumbents gain from voting to increase their salaries. According to People Magazine, a large factor in incentivising this pay rise was the fact that since the last vote, cost of living has increased by approximately 30% since 2016. Despite the mixture of greed and increasing spending costs though, Mayor Zorhan Mamdani outright refused to accept the pay rise of $46,000 annually.
FINALLY right? Some heartwarming political news and a very blatant example of an elected person doing and standing by exactly what they have promised. When asked about his decision, Mamdani humorously remarked, “I haven’t knocked on anyone’s door and they told me they thought the mayor made too little”I haven’t knocked on anyone’s door in New York City, and they’ve said that their concern is that the mayor makes too little”. Additionally, in the same announcement as his declining of the pay increase, Mamdani announced his focus on a new set of policy focused on improving the quality of tenants rights in New York, and a redoubled enforcement on landlords who abuse them. This to me is an incredible reassurance that it is possible for our elected officials to be successful while putting their constituents before themselves.
Optimistic and Sleepy,
Marc Grace
https://people.com/zohran-mamdani-declines-huge-pay-raise-12021615
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