Cook Commissioner: Cut Board Member Pay, Use It For Youth Jobs Program
Pay Cut For Jobs Program?
(CBS) -- Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin is proposing that he and fellow county board members take a pay cut to help find jobs for young people.
WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports.
Under Boykin's ordinance, salaries of each county commissioner and the board president, Toni Preckwinkle, would drop by $10,000 annually. The money would fund a jobs program for youths.
"We're asking taxpayers to pay more, and so we should be willing to share that sacrifice with our constituents," the 1st District representative said at a Thursday news conference.
Boykin says gun violence is tied to joblessness. He says he hasn't talked with fellow commissioners about his idea.
"I got an email from one of them earlier today that said this is a dangerous piece of legislation and that I should reconsider it," he said.
He added: "It's dangerous to do nothing."
Preckwinkle's office said they're already working with county officials and philanthropists to create a youth jobs program.
