Mayor Gimenez gets rid of his own executive benefits

As the ultimate symbol of cost-cutting, Carlos Gimenez promised during his 2011 campaign for mayor to cut his own paycheck.

"I'm going to cut the salary and benefits of the mayor by 50 percent," Gimenez said, according to an article posted on CBS 4 on June 29, 2011. "I'm not going to have a car allowance. I'm not going to have two SUV's. I'm not going to have people driving me around."

We gave Gimenez a Promise Kept after he slashed his salary to about $150,000 as he took office (For more details see our update below.) But he took an extra step when he announced in April that he would get rid of executive benefits, the extra compensation that executives could choose to pay for a variety of insurance, retirement and leave benefits. Gimenez cut his his own $10,000 perk, which ended May 28. Getting rid of the benefits, which range between $7,500 and $10,000 for each of about 290 employees, would save about $2.1 million.

Gimenez's spokeswoman Suzy Trutie said that Gimenez will keep his salary of $150,000 in his second year of office.

We rate this Promise Kept.