George Sarantou not feeling the power of the Schwartz

According to the above linked Toledo Blade article, George "blasts pay for Mayor's new spokesperson". As we discussed here earlier a $14,000 increase over Mr. Schwartz's previous salary is quite a bit of a raise.

According to the first Toledo Blade article:

The city code does not appear to address the topic of the mayor's decision to offer salaries beyond listed ranges.

While Section 53. Compensation of officers and employees - fees addresses part of the issue, I'd have to agree I couldn't find anything that pertained to going outside of a salary range.

The Council shall fix, by ordinance, the salary or compensation of all officers and employees of the City. The salary and compensation so fixed shall be uniform for like service in each grade of the service as the same shall be graded and classified by the Civil Service Commission, and all such salaries and rates of compensation shall be reported to the Civil Service Commission forthwith. The salary of any officer, employee or member of a board or commission shall not be diminished during the term for which he or she was elected or appointed, except in the case of demotion of an employee. Laborers shall be paid the highest reasonable wage paid at the time in the City for similar services. All fees pertaining to any office shall be paid into the City treasury.

Then of course we have Section 30. Council member shall not interfere with Administration.

Except insofar as is necessary in the performance of the duties of his or her office, no member of the Council shall interfere, directly or indirectly, with the conduct of the administration or directly or indirectly take any part in the appointment, promotion, or dismissal of any officer or employee in the service of the City other than the officers or employees of the Council and except insofar as Council confirmation is necessary to fill a position as required by this Charter. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the members of Council shall deal solely through the Mayor regarding the administration.

Under Chapter V - Executive Powers and Duties, it's pretty clear:

The Mayor shall have the power to appoint the Mayor's Executive Assistant, a secretary, and such additional assistants as are authorized by appropriate legislation, all without Council confirmation. (It's also clear that Mr. Schwartz should be a Toledo resident however that issue is probably moot considering the changes done on a State level.)

So, it appears once again we have a situation that the Charter and the Code doesn't clearly address. City Council is supposed to set salaries, the Mayor does not need confirmation for certain positions and who knows what the rules really are in this situation. How will the Toledo City Law director decide? That's going to be the interesting mystery in this situation and when the decision is made what it will be based on. I am however, getting to the point where I'm learning the City Charter. (Note to my father up in heaven...SEE! I told you I should have been a lawyer!) :-)

I can't help wondering why Rob Ludeman hasn't spoken on this issue, he is after all, City Council President and you'd think that any action taken by Council would have to include his involvement.

UPDATE 6/22: According to this Toledo Blade article:

The job title for Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner’s new press secretary, Brian Schwartz, was changed to executive assistant, allowing him to collect a salary 14 percent higher than the upper end of the spokesman scale.