I can understand and I support the 1.5 % cost of living increase in wages, I believe a 20% increase in salary is excessive considering the cities financial situation. We heard all winter long how it there wasn't enough money for plowing the streets properly, we also heard how there wasn't enough money to hire more police officers to help make Anchorage a safer place to live. How many police officers could we have hire if the Mayor had of only given the cost of living increases and not given raises?