Publication Date: Friday, August 13, 2004
ReaderWire
ReaderWire
(August 13, 2004)
Diverse views
It is good that you publish diverse opinions. Mine differs from that of Mr. Stietzel (Letters, Aug. 11).
He refers admiringly to J.F. Kennedy. Does anyone remember that it was JFK who got us started in the Vietnam War? Or that his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson of "the great society," escalated our disastrous involvement in Vietnam?
The "it's my money" idea was not "foisted" on many of us. There are many who deserve being taken care of. Unfortunately, there are far too many who do not deserve it. There is ample evidence that handing our money to politicians of either stripe is not an effective solution to our problems.
As for respect of others, just check the millions who show their respect by wanting to live and work here as opposed to the often cynical and parochial motives of foreign "leaders."
Finally, there are enough questions about the "honorable service" of John Kerry that if he were a Republican, the hue and cry for release of his war records would be deafening. Why won't he do so? Why doesn't the mainstream media insist on it?
Daniel Lazare
Barbara Drive, Palo Alto
Show me the money
In "Salary figures bust some myths" (Weekly, Aug. 6) the writer attempts to prove that city employees' salaries match those of the average working Palo Altan. However, it does not disprove the argument that some city employees' salaries plus overtime are bloated compared with many residents' incomes.
There is a huge range of income levels in Palo Alto. We have many wealthy citizens who are paid well in excess of any city employee, but we also have thousands of retirees on fixed incomes.
Many seniors in Palo Alto purchased their homes more than 25 years ago and some have Proposition 13 savings. They may be house rich, but by the level of city employees' salaries, are income poor. It is this large group which is shocked by the huge salaries, benefits and overtime paid to city employees.
Resident seniors on fixed incomes feel threatened by a city and school district that continually asks them for increased taxes in the form of bond measures and parcel taxes. Both the council and school board should take note that this group of citizens is growing larger every year.
Figures can be manipulated to prove anything. If you average out the salaries of working Palo Altans, they may well match the salaries of city employees. But averaging does not help retirees on fixed incomes and lower paid workers pay the taxes to support our overpaid city staff.
Jean Wilcox
Sutherland Drive, Palo Alto
Salary thoughts
Have things changed so much? When I was working, not all that long ago, one took a job in education, non-profit organizations or government knowing that one's salary would never equal those in the world of private business.
The trade-offs came in greater job security, in the ability to do something you really wished to do and in the knowledge that you were doing something that was beneficial to society.
Another benefit of working in the three non-profit sectors mentioned above was that typically, such employees receive many more paid holidays than do those who work in the private sector.
I do think Palo Alto's salaries for employees have risen higher than is reasonable and that the extremely high overtime costs must be the result of some very poor planning on someone's part. I would like the employees of the City of Palo Alto to be able to afford to live here, but at the current prices of Palo Alto housing, I don't imagine that is a realistic hope.
As far as finding out what city employees of comparable cities are earning in order to meet the "competition," this sure sounds like a grand game for raising the salary of every public employee everywhere, while residents wonder how to meet the city's bills.
I do believe that government salary ranges should be known, and that the top ten salaries should be public knowledge, along with the names of those who are receiving those salaries.
There is a law requiring non-profit organization salaries over a certain amount to be made public. This allows givers to assess whether the organization is using donors' gifts in an effective manner.
Why should not the citizens of Palo Alto have that same opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of their tax dollars?
Sue Kemp
Seale Avenue, Palo Alto
Revising response
Last week I responded to the ReaderWire question: "Should employees' individual salaries be confidential?"
I responded in the affirmative but neglected to include the word "individual" before salaries. I now see that my faulty response was printed in the Aug. 6 Weekly.
I'd like to correct my error and make plain that I don't object to salaries being published, but not with the identities of the individual employees.
Ellen Fletcher
San Antonio Road, Palo Al
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
