To the editor:

Now that the city has made itself the laughing stock of the region for its over-the-top pay recommendations for its administrators, it’s time to get real about a city with a population of 84,000 trying to compare its pay scale to cities with three and four times the population.

One councilman said he would support it, because we don’t have to come up with new money. If there’s so much money available, why was it necessary to raise real estate taxes and trash fees? And now we’re getting ready to raise water, sewage and personal property taxes again!

It’s time we stop the trend of creating public service empires whose employees live in a protected environment supported by working-class people who live and work in the real world of no pay raises, layoffs and job eliminations.

Buddy Wilkins
Suffolk