Good evening, Mayor Fraim, members of council and guests in the audience. My name is Susan L. Raper. I reside at 1110 Toler Place, Norfolk, VA.

Mayor Fraim, I am 54 years old. I was born and raised in the Ocean View & Willoughby sections of Norfolk and I continue to live in Willoughby.

However, when I retire in the next 2-3 years, I will be forced to sell my home, which I have lived in for 28 years and move out of Norfolk, I will no longer be able to afford to live in the city where I was born, grew up and lived all my life. The taxes and other expenses of living in Norfolk will send me to live elsewhere.

Since I am close to retirement, I was looking forward to the last three years of my 33 year teaching career with NPS to help my retirement paycheck, since it depends upon those earnings to determine the amount of retirement pay I receive.

Superintendent Jones promised the most experienced teachers of NPS last year that if we allowed the school board to take care of the new teachers coming into the system with a higher pay, during the 2009-2010 school year, the teachers at the top of the scale would receive higher raises.

However, no one could have foreseen the economic disaster that came about this year. When it looked like we would not be receiving a large raise, I asked my EAN members to please understand and support Dr. Jones and the school board with whatever amount raise they were able to give us.

But, I will NOT ask them to sit back and support the city council asking for a 1% DECREASE to their salary. We do NOT see a 1% DECREASE in our medical expenses. We do NOT see a 1% DECREASE in our grocery bills. We do NOT see a 1% DECREASE in our children’s clothing bills. We do NOT see a 1% DECREASE in our house or automobile repair costs. And finally, we DO NOT see a 1% Decrease in the cost of our ability to LIVE.

I urge you, on behalf of myself, other outgoing retirees, my EAN members and all others who work for Norfolk Public Schools in our house or automobile repair costs. And finally, we DO NOT see a 1% Decrease in the cost of our ability to LIVE.

I urge you, on behalf of myself, other outgoing retirees, my EAN members and all others who work for Norfolk Public Schools, to reconsider your thoughts on decreasing our salary next year by 1%.

Thank you for your attention this evening.