RE: Moscow city salaries

["Saundra Lund" <sslund@moscow.com>]

I'd like to thank Ms. Salant & Mr. London for bringing up this issue in
this forum and for asking the questions I've been wondering myself since
reading the Daily News article.

I'd *love* to see the questions both raised addressed!  I've my own pet
issues, of course (including paying those on salary for overtime and not
satisfactorily adjusting the wages of lower-paid workers who are
currently below market rate), but I think all of the questions Ms.
Salant & Mr. London have raised are very important to our community. 

<sigh>  Too bad we have no council seats open in the upcoming election
because these would be *excellent* questions that might actually be
answered.

Looking forward to learning more about this . . . 

Saundra Lund
Moscow, Idaho

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to
do nothing.
Edmund Burke

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill London [mailto:london@moscow.com] 
> Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 9:15 AM
> To: Priscilla Salant
> Cc: vision2020@moscow.com
> Subject: Re: Moscow city salaries
> 
> 
> My thanks to Priscilla for bringing this issue forward.
> As I read the same Daily News article, I was struck by the 
> comparison made regarding the proposed "executive 
> compensation plan." This plan was compared to the packages of 
> perks and pensions offered to corporate CEO's. I certainly 
> agree with that comparison, and would have hoped that we all 
> would have learned how bogus those CEO packages are.  Has 
> everyone forgotten the scams and scandals of Enron et al? The 
> growing gap nationwide between compensation for executives 
> and compensation for workers, and the mammoth settlements for 
> executives that destroy the companies and workers' savings 
> plans, have both resulted from these sweetheart deals between 
> executives and the boards that are supposed to oversee those 
> executives. Is it possible that the same kind of sweetheart 
> deals are happening here? Does Moscow have a problem with 
> executive turnover? Is the Council watching out for the best 
> interests of the city or the majority of city employees? In 
> what other government or business are executives paid for 
> overtime work or are executives expected to complete their 
> work in whatever time it takes? BL
> 
> Priscilla Salant wrote:
> 
> > Visionaries,
> >
> > Thanks to the Daily News for covering the 9/30/02 Council 
> > deliberations about employee salaries and benefits.  I would 
> > appreciate a follow-up article with the following information:
> >
> > What cities were compared with Moscow to determine market rates for 
> > public employees?
> >
> > What positions -- and which employees -- would be covered under the 
> > proposed "executive compensation plan"?
> >
> > How does the Council justify leaving lower paid employees at wages 
> > less than market rate, and increasing compensation to higher paid 
> > employees to "keep our best folks"?
> >
> > Will the Council consider splitting off the merit-based salary 
> > proposal (which is a superb idea), from the exec compensation plan 
> > (which sounds a little fishy)?
> >
> > Are copies of the consultants' report available to the public?
> >
> > Priscilla Salant