Edina residents, beware of the deals politicians make when raising their own pay -- whichever way they do it. Learn to avoid how the politicians in St. Louis Park do it...first, have the mayor not being paid enough for the hard work he does...second, have a politically motivated councilmember work to get the mayor's pay raised (in St. Louis Park this councilmember pushed a measure to shift EDA salaries to the mayor)...third, have the mayor and his favorite councilmember promote an unneeded and unnecessary 'conventions and visitors bureau'...then create this body and do a 'nationwide' search for its first director, and 'walah'...find one with no experience who just happens to be the guy who promoted the mayor's raise, and then his own job...seriously, this is what happened in St. Louis Park when there was no one watching or paying attention to your tax dollars...

The word is "Voila" not 'walah'

As a resident I don't begrudge them the pay. I just wish they would do LESS work. The scope of the Edina government has grown exponentially in the last five years. The City of Edina now has almost 600 people on their payroll. They busy themselves with proclamations denouncing genocide in Darfur and Global Warming. They worry about wood smoke pollution and bike advisory lanes and "living streets". I wish they would stick to their knitting and keep Edina a well run SUBURB. As it stands they aim to transform it into a leafier Minneapolis. And that's not what most Edina residents bargained for.

matermea: What is the growth in the number of people on Edina's payroll? If it's almost 600 today, what was it 5 years ago? 10 years ago? 15 years ago? 20 years ago? The population hasn't changed much at all.

lolson01: We would have to get the growth numbers from City Hall which they would provide upon request. Don't forget to add the official staff number the OVER 100 unelected and unaccountable "commisioners" and I think most Edina residents would agree that the activity at City Hall is markedly on the increase.

A 30% raise??? Who gets that now-a-days? I am lucky to get a less than %3 raise every three years at my FULL TIME job. Minimum wage has not been increased in MN since 2005....I bet the people making minimum wage would LOVE to see a 30% wage increase and would vote for it for themselves if they had the same privilege that the Edina city council does...by the way I live in Edina.