It must be really nice to give yourself a raise. (Town of Oyster Bay Board Votes to Increase Salaries, Dec. 25 issue).
Even though their last raise was in 2006, our Town of Oyster Bay officials certainly made up for it by giving themselves an average 10 percent in raise. In private industry, the average annual salary increase is between 2-4 percent. So the Town of Oyster Bay really didn’t forego anything because they made up for it this year.
After 9/11, the company where I worked ordered a salary freeze because of the downturn in our business. In 2005, when the freeze was lifted, we got at most 4 percent.
Our town officials have not sacrificed anything. We are in a recession, the market is awful, the unemployment rate is high, even here on Long Island, but these people seem to have no clue.
In the next local election, we are voting for whoever is opposing them.
Isabelle and Howard Belman
