Citizen-Councilman Lally passes (Pittsburgh, Braddock: insurance, employment, school district)

[I_Like_Spam]

James Lally, who served on Pittsburgh city council back in the 70's,who died this week, was part of an old-school council person that was a lot more prevalent back in the day. Lally was a labor union official with the Steamfitters while also doing council meetings and hearings.


Mr. Lally, along with many of his colleagues, maintained their regular employment during their service on City Council. It gave them a better view of the problems of the city, by continuing to work every day just like the citizens.
The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search

[FreightTrainRunning]

That seems like a terrible system. How could you expect a council person to work objectively for their district when they are concurrently working for someone else. I also expect a council person to be able to work a full eight hour or more day; how could they do that when they are holding down another job. Politics should be a profession, not a hobby.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Politics should be a profession, not a hobby.

I think that realistically depends upon the size of the local governmental agency, as many cannot bear the cost of full-time elected officials, and don't have enough regular work to occupy their time anyway. The Mayor of Braddock works a second job in Woodland Hills school district, IIRC, from which he draws the majority of his salary.

We're in agreement though that for a city of this size, with a relatively small city council, those should be full-time, professional positions.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by GeneW

That seems like a terrible system. How could you expect a council person to work objectively for their district when they are concurrently working for someone else. I also expect a council person to be able to work a full eight hour or more day; how could they do that when they are holding down another job. Politics should be a profession, not a hobby.

The idea that politics is a profession is a relatively new one, and one which hasn't been adopted everywhere. Many municipalities and states limit the time for their legislative sessions so that service isn't a full time task.


Making politics a profession makes it more likely that the politician will do whatever they can to protect their livelihood, standing up for principals might have to take second fiddle.

[FreightTrainRunning]

OK, yes for a tiny borough full-time council is probably not necessary but for council people with 33,000 citizen districts, less than full-time is just not enough.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Mr. Lally, along with many of his colleagues, maintained their regular employment during their service on City Council. It gave them a better view of the problems of the city, by continuing to work every day just like the citizens.

I don't understand how this is supposed to be the case. If you don't pay politicians enough to support themselves, you either get only people who are removed from the common problems of citizens because they are wealthy enough not to need to earn a living or people who can't put in more than a few hours a week.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by GeneW

OK, yes for a tiny borough full-time council is probably not necessary but for council people with 33,000 citizen districts, less than full-time is just not enough.

Even though the City of Pittsburgh is large, how many new laws does the municipality need? Passing legislation is the duty of city council

[FreightTrainRunning]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

The idea that politics is a profession is a relatively new one, and one which hasn't been adopted everywhere. Many municipalities and states limit the time for their legislative sessions so that service isn't a full time task.


Making politics a profession makes it more likely that the politician will do whatever they can to protect their livelihood, standing up for principals might have to take second fiddle.

Well, it's up to the voters to validate that they have actually stood up to their principals. As I said, I'd be really uncomfortable about having my city council person working for anyone else but the city since there'd be no way for them to do both jobs effectively or objectively. What if the council person was a big developer or an executive for one of the big medical insurance companies in the city; how could they vote on major issues that would directly effect their day jobs? Yes, they could recuse themselves but I'd rather that my council person doesn't have to deal with distraction and conflicts of interest like that.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Even though the City of Pittsburgh is large, how many new laws does the municipality need? Passing legislation is the duty of city council

Passing legislation is one of the duties of a legislative body. The other duties are oversight and representing their constituents. Those take a great deal more time.