Amazing. I'm actually starting to agree with Randy on something. Giving rises to union employees and not non-union ones is absurd, immoral, unjustifiable.

If this city had five Saltzmans on the council, we'd be in a lot better position.

Leonard is a joke. Even if the proposal saved $400,000 - it would be worth it, in the end. That isn't a pay cut, it is simply a pay freeze. Something nearly all state employees are doing and have done in the recent past. A dollar is a dollar.
Last I checked, Fritz has a much better record of supporting hard working Oregonians for better wages and working conditions. See: her organizing strike of RN's at OHSU.

Not that public employees shouldn't get raises, but I have a problem with acting like MERIT increases should be automatic.

They'll get cost of living increases no matter what, we're talking about raises for merit. Leonard (and many others) seem to treat these raises as generally automatic.

I don't think Fritz's proposal is that out of line in a time when public and private sector employees are being laid off, taking time without pay, etc.

With their stadiums and convention hotels, it's really as if Leonard and Adams don't have the full picture of what the economy is up to right now. This is the worst recession since the Depression, and all indicators are still headed downwards.