Paul Rivera, a top aide to Senate Minority Leader John Sampson, will not be getting his $50,000 a year raise after all.
“Mr. Rivera, who had voluntarily taken a significant pay cut in 2011, has agreed to forego the restoration of his previous salary,” a Senate Democratic spokesman said in a terse statement.
Insiders said that Sampson was under great pressure from several of his members who were upset after they learned about the raise Wednesday from a Daily News report.
The News reported that Rivera was set to see his salary jump 62.5%–from the $80,000 he is now making to $130,000 a year. On top of that, Rivera would retain a special designation that allows him to work a minimum of 25 hours a week—rather than the regular 35-hour work week required of most full-time staffers. The reduction in hours allows Rivera to focus more on the upcoming fall elections, source said.
The raise was also to be retroactive to February 16.
“People are not happy,” said one member of Sampson’s conference an hour before the raise was eliminated. “It’s not a good move.”
Another senator complained that the raise “was terrible optics, especially in an election year.”
” It just plays into the image the Republicans are painting of us as out of control spenders who don’t know what we’re doing. I don’t think he should have done it at all, but if he was going to, he should have just waited until after the elections were over,” the senator added.
Still another blamed Sampson for having trouble saying ‘no’ to his members—a problem several said led to the bloated payroll when the Senate Dems were in the majority in 2010 and 2011.
Rivera had been making $160,000 a year while the Senate Democrats were in the majority. Once they moved back to the minority in 2011, Rivera’s pay was sliced to $130,000, from $160,000. With the Democrats—who busted their budget while in the majority—having to cut millions of dollars on orders of the Senate GOP majority, Rivera’s pay was cut further to $80,000. His title went from communications director for the Senate majority to special advisor to the minority leader.
Those close to Sampson say the decision to hike Rivera’s pay back to $130,000 was made because the Senate Dems have now gotten their budget under control . They said Sampson was simply looking to repay his aide for his sacrifice last year.
