Show Me the Money
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson wants a huge raise — just for doing his job.
The New York Post reports:
After the city’s five DAs told a salary-review commission they each deserve raises of 31.5 percent, Johnson justified the request in a follow-up letter.
“Every day, I must make prosecutorial decisions in the most difficult cases — what to charge or not to charge,” he wrote to the commission in response to a question about the greatest challenges of his position.
“Sometimes I must explain those decision to the press, or to the families of crime victims,” Johnson continued in a letter dated Nov. 25.
The DA, who has been re-elected with minimal opposition since 1989 while backed by the Bronx Democratic machine, is pushing for a retroactive pay hike from $190,000 to $250,000 going back to 2011.
Johnson is leaving for a state judgeship appointment at the end of the year, under a deal that allowed party bosses to handpick his successor, Darcel Clark.
Asked by the commission to describe his job “beyond the formalities” of daily tasks, Johnson notes that he’s “always on duty,” including making appearances at community events, law-enforcement meetings and an “hour or two” of reading case material at home each day.