WHEN MAYOR TED GATSAS started pushing city unions last fall to make concessions, he promised the first group to the table would get the best deal. All others since have been offered the same package: cuts in health care balanced by 1 percent raises in 2014 and the next year. Union employees also get a 2.5 percent increase next fiscal year.

The only city-side employees who agreed to concessions, but aren't getting the perks offered with it, are the three people employed in the mayor's office.

Gatsas has budgeted an additional $10,000 next year for staff raises equal to the raises other city workers will get. These staffers don't get annual raises for seniority or cost of living, no sick time or vacation time. They are in the city retirement system and get health insurance, but don't get other benefits offered other city staff.

“They are the only three employees treated that way,” said Gatsas. “It's about fairness.”

Alderman Patrick Arnold said he understood how hard these staffers work, but that now is not the time to increase the mayor's office budget.

“(The) staff gives 110 percent … but we are facing a devastating reduction in force on the education side, and those people give 110 percent, and I'm not sure that sends the right signal,” said Arnold at Tuesday's board meeting.

Arnold asked the board to cut the $10,000 from the budget, but the motion went nowhere after Alderman Joyce Craig asked the aldermen not to vote on budget items piecemeal.

According to city data, Gatsas' Chief of Staff Samantha Piatt makes $61,126.89 per year, Assistant Carrie Perry makes $41,519.09 and Assistant Victoria Ferraro makes $32,531.56.

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CHUCK AND SAM DePRIMA dropped a bomb on their way out of town, announcing last month in two emails to city officials they were considering suing for up to $405,000 for wrongful termination. The Union Leader reported Saturday the DePrimas claim nepotism caused officials to pass Charles DePrima over for the chief of parks position.

The irony here is that Mayor Gatsas accused the aldermen of nepotism when they gave DePrima his second city job.

Former interim parks director, DePrima was laid off during the 2010 consolidation of the Highway Department. In June 2010, the aldermen voted to spend $124,000 to create two positions — one for DePrima and another for a fellow Parks Department worker who also lost his job due to the merger. The DePrimas have accused Alderman At-Large Dan O'Neil of hatching the plan to give the chief of parks job to another candidate to help promote an O'Neil relative, but O'Neil voted to create a job for DePrima.

The aldermen were warned at the time that the charter rules banned creating jobs for specific people and that these positions would have to be posted and open to all.

At the time, Mayor Gatsas was clearly upset by the move. He said it gave the appearance of cronyism.

“The nepotism that will be flying around in this city you will never stop again,” said Gatsas. “It's the wrong process.”

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THEY HAD BEEN LINGERING on the table for weeks, daring the aldermen to take a stand, but on Tuesday the aldermen killed dueling motions.

A motion to raise the tax cap by 1 percent and a motion to stay within the tax cap, both made in the late hours of the April 3 board of aldermen meeting, were taken off the table and received and filed by unanimous vote.

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LESS THAN A WEEK after a committee of aldermen began looking into Manchester's labyrinthine business and building-permit process, former mayor and current Republican U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta will be in Manchester to discuss the effect federal regulation has on small-business owners.

Guinta will hold a “Red Tape Forum” with California Republican and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa Monday at 1 p.m. at 36 deLux Restaurant. Guinta is expected to address what he calls “the hardship of excessive regulation” that is hindering job growth.

“Job creators say their ability to efficiently run their businesses and remain competitive is severely limited by all the red tape coming from Washington,” Guinta said in a statement issued Thursday. “It's more than a nuisance; it's preventing them from creating more jobs, and it takes a big bite out of their bottom line.”

deLux is owned by Ita Isakov, who also owns Carmel Produce wholesalers based in Nashua.

Although Guinta is focusing on federal regulation, local and state regulation will continue to be an issue in Manchester in the next few months.

The aldermen are expected to talk at Tuesday's meeting about creating a “how-to guide” to the city's permitting process and other ways to make it easier for businesses to open here.

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FORMER ALDERMAN, state senator and city firefighter Betsi DeVries will be the guest of honor at the Manchester City Democrats Flag Day Dinner on Monday, June 11, at the Puritan Back Room Conference Center. DeVries, who was known for her solid support of labor and public safety, ended her time on the board of aldermen last year when she decided not to run for reelection.

The dinner will also feature Mass. Rep. Michael Capuano, who will be available for elbow-rubbing at a special reception from 5 to 6 p.m. Registration is at 5:30 p.m. and dinner begins at 6 p.m.

Read Beth Hall LaMontagne's coverage of Manchester City Hall in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Email her at bhall@unionleader.com.