Overpaid Public Servants

Yikes, a city manager getting paid $800,000 a year.

The thing this whole financial mess has brought to the fore isn't that some folks earn a lot of money while others don't, it's that a lot of folks have gamed the system in their favor and their salaries aren't commensurate with their contribution to society. Thing is, if one has a brain and is educated and has a tiny bit of moral character, you know if you're over or under paid. My first job out of school college, I was useless for the first several months. I had no idea what I was doing. I sat around most the day doing little assignments. In hindsight, I was being trained, but at the time I needed to ask questions all the time and was more of a burden than a contributor. I remember at Christmas time the VP of the company pulls me into the office and hands me a $2000 bonus check for having worked there for 3 months. I was dumbfounded. I thought every day I was going to get fired because I couldn't imagine why anyone was paying me almost a grand a week and health benefits to sit around and fill in some excel spreadsheets and go eat fancy lunches at SF Restaurants. Later I found out they were billing my time out at $80 an hour. I was worth maybe $20. But someone was paying $80 and I was getting some. Nowadays, I work my ass off and contribute to a small business operations day in and day out. I see how my work matters and I see how hard it is to turn a buck. If I'm lucky I'd get a $2000 bonus for the year, and I'd have earned every cent.

Point is, if I'm feeling guilty about that $2000 way back when, how does some schlub city manager justify earning 800,000. I mean, is this guy serious? I hear on NPR driving after work the "from his POV," well, say the guy does a good job and keeps the city lights on, cleans up the streets, and so fucking forth. I wish I was on the radio, so I could laugh my ass off. How many people who get paid $30,000 per year do you think do a pretty damn good job? A lot, I'd guess. And I bet there's a hell of a lot more folks getting paid $80,000 a year who do a hell of a good job and whatever it is they do. I bet there are folks getting paid $80,000 who are ensuring folks homes are heated for the winter and EMTs and firemen and all sorts of people who actually save lives day in and day out. We're supposed to think to ourselves - holy shit - this guy manages to turn on a few street lights and cleans up a neighborhood or two and he deserves 800,000. The level is just ridiculous. I'm glad it has been brought to the public attention.