By Rosalie Tirella

City Councilor at Large Mike (Michael) Germain has never, ever, EVER taken the 84% pay raise the Worcester City Council so sneakily awarded itself four or so years ago – right after the November election, of course! Right in the middle of a recession, of course!

Mike Germain stood tall. He told his colleagues that it didn’t seem right to take city/taxpayer money (almost another $15,000 per city councilor) – especially at a time like this. Hooray! We applauded such behavior then and we applaud it now, seeing Mike continues to refuse the money – a good chunk of change. Germain’s decision smacks of integrity – something sorely lacking in many of our Worcester political “leaders” these days!

We remember our old pal, former city coucnilor Dennis Irish, doing the same – he refused the pay hike, too. Dennis had/has a ton of integrity, too!

Germian’s good choice, something he hasn’t played up this election cycle, should be noted by the voters. Germain, who is up for reelection, could have taken the dough – raising his stipend from almost $15,000 to almost $30,000 a year. HE DID NOT. He believes in Worcester, loves Worcester and felt during these tough economic times, the City Council doesn’t need to wring blood out of a turnip.

Everyone else on the Worcester City Council is taking the money. Add it up! That’s a minority teacher recruiter pay check – or maybe a jumpstart for the Worcester Public Library Book Mobile program!

This says a lot for Mike Germain (and Dennis Irish). If re-elected, Mike Germain will still forgo the pay raise, unlike his colleagues who, we think are being a bit greedy, since as a city councilor, you get tons of perks like getting city health insurance at the cheapo premium rate (25%), getting a city pension and a free lap top.

Again, voters should remember this come November.