Just to provide some perspective: minimum wage in Massachusetts is currently $11 an hour. A person working on a minimum wage job makes $22,880 a year.

A proposed increase to the stipend being paid to the Springfield City Council would bump their pay from $17,500 to $29,500. If passed, the increase would take place Jan. 1, 2020 after the next council election.

Here are some questions to consider:

• Considering the increasing complexity of municipal government, is it only fair the men and women serving on the council receive more pay?

• If we want to attract qualified people to run, shouldn’t the compensation be more attractive?

• Or is being on the council public service that shouldn’t be considered a job?

I was raised by uptight parents who seldom spoke about money. I inherited that tendency and had to force myself to speak about raises or come up with fees for freelance work.

Elected officials tend to stay away from the subject, too, as it’s seldom popular with voters. After all isn’t it part of our cultural heritage that our elected leaders are not supposed to profit from being in office?

I know that in the big picture $29,500 is not a lot of money for people who are making decisions that affect a city of more than 150,000 residents.

If you’re doing the job of councilor correctly, it is a time consuming part-time job. There are many of the council who are very active in attending sub-committee meetings, neighborhood council meetings and other events. The statement is true for both the ward and at-large members of the body.

I would say there are some who deserve that kind of raise and there are those who do not.

The raise proposed is far greater than one suggested by a council sub-committee.

Some people, including Mayor Domenic Sarno, have been quite critical of the proposal – he would receive a $25,000 increase. In a written statement to the press, Sarno said, “Boy, did the City Council really stick it to our taxpayers with a ‘double whammy’ last night. They voted again to become a sanctuary city, and then voted themselves a huge pay increase, by not even following their own review committee’s report recommendation of a much less pay increase.”

What do you think? Should the City Council get such a pay increase? Will other councils in neighboring communities follow suit? Drop me a line at news@thereminder.com.

You have to watch what you say

I love language and I both love and hate how language changes, particularly the colloquial use of language.

The folks at PETA tweeted out something last week that caused a fair amount of hilarity in the newsroom. The tweet read, “Just as it became unacceptable to use racist, homophobic, or ableist language, phrases that trivialize cruelty to animals will vanish as more people begin to appreciate animals for who they are and start ‘bringing home the bagels’ instead of the bacon.”

The tweet included a number of common phrases and new ones suggested by PETA.

Ready?

Instead of “Kill two birds with one stone,” PETA would like to us to say, “Feed two birds with one scone.”

No, this is not a joke.

How about “Feed a fed horse,” instead of “Beat a dead horse?”

Instead of “Bring home the bacon,” use “Bring home the bagels.”

Don’t say “Take the bull by the horns,” but rather “Take the flower by the thorns.”

Naturally my ace crew came up with other phrases that undoubtedly would upset PETA, such as “Hold your horses;” “Like a fish out of water;” “Let the cat out of the bag;” “It’s a dog eat dog world;” Don’t horse [or monkey] around;” and “The straw the broke the camel’s back.”

Now there is nothing funny about animal cruelty. My wife and I are very sympathetic towards animals and in fact have found ourselves taking care of four cats who have been abandoned by their owner. We need to find homes for them.

Changing clichéd language is not as important as urging people to spay or neuter their pets; not to buy a exotic animal; learning how to properly train a pet for the security of both the animal and the owner; providing ways for a pet owner in an emergency to find new owners for their animals; and making sure farm animals are treated ethically and kindly.

If PETA wants to make a difference, raise money for organizations such the O’Connor Center or Dakin Humane Society, both of who are doing great work here.