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Let’s say you’re the mayor of a large city that is currently facing a big deficit. Additionally, your first few months in office were stained by several scandals involving the hiring of your allies to high-paying positions. Sounds like the perfect time to ask the city council for some executive pay raises, right?

Well, that’s what Mayor Vince Gray has done — according to the Examiner, Gray has asked the D.C. Council to boost the salary cap for top administration officials by $100,000. Currently, there are five executive pay grades in the executive office, the highest of which maxes out at $179,000. Gray’s proposal would add two additional grades, one at $225,000, and another at $279,000.

The Council, and specifically Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh — who is investigating the hiring practices of the Gray administration as the chair of the Council’s government affairs committee — wasn’t too pleased with the request:

“I don’t think this was a nefarious move,” Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh told The Washington Examiner following a hearing on the bill. “But somebody is tone deaf.” … During Friday’s hearing, Cheh said, “for the bill to anywhere, it has to go through this committee. There’s no way the part of the bill that sets up high compensation is making it out of this committee.” In other words, Cheh said, “the bill is, how do they say? DOA.”

The Council can approve salaries above the legal limits on a per-case basis — for example, the salaries paid to MPD Chief Cathy Lanier and DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson. But there are several checks and balances on those salaries, including examination under a public hearing. Gray’s bill would eliminate that requirement.

While the bill itself might be going nowhere — it certainly didn’t help that the woman tasked with defending it in front of the Council, interim Human Resources chief Shawn Stokes was completely dressed down by Councilmember Phil Mendelson on Friday — it’s quizzical why Gray, already under so much political duress, would choose to push personally for higher pay for his staff at a time when the city’s coffers are so dry he’s proposed an income tax increase and while he’s being raked over the coals regarding financial management during the first five months of his campaign.