This is exactly as Michael describes it as, "it's a serious case of Enron-itis". Executives at every corporation or government level who are simply not worth it. But Michael, you do not have to hire a less "qualified" person. You have to hire a less "connected" person. You could probably hire a MORE qualified person for half that amount. I had to absolutely laugh at the hullabaloo about the Minneapolis School Superintendent and that garbage about competing for her services against other Cities. There are people who are just as qualified as that person already in the system. These people might do the job just as well, and possibly better, for half the amount.
Why do we need "connections" for management positions? Fundraising and political graft and lobbying probably need "Connections", but where else? An exception might be when a person is doing such a GREAT job that the product improved instrumentally in that year. Has education or reading improved that much in this past year? I don't think so. After reading this list I would say the taxpayers have the opposite opinion. Speaking of political graft, when are we going to make City Council and Hennepin County positions pay what State Senator pay is? The position should not be so lucrative that a Lawyer or Real Estate Salesperson would want to hold the office for more than one or two terms. Some say, "well look at the quality of people the salary attracts". My answer is not to pay them more, but to pay them less. Make the job something you only intend to do for a very short time and then get back to the real world. That way you get "real" people with "real" qualifications, not "Connections". Some will say that paying them more keeps them from defrauding the taxpayer or selling favors. It is not high pay that keeps street workers in the City from defrauding the City. Is it? I think for lower level workers it might be called "Honesty" and "work ethic". If politicians want to make more money, let them go out into the "real" world. Not rob the taxpayers. Same thing applies with corporate executives. It should be fraud to take a higher salary than 100% more than the lowest level worker, unless you do such a good job that you improve the earnings of the company. There is a trust function of the oversight function of government for "publicly" held stock. If someone uses "connection" to get a huge amount of money from a corporation without corresponding benefit in the form of new dollars of profit then they are defrauding the individual stockholders. If an executive wants to make more money, let them start their own business. Not rob the shareholders. I have never met an administrator, a politician, or a corporate executive that was more than 100% smarter and more gifted than those below him or her. I have never met one who was more than marginally more gifted than people two or three levels below them. So why should they make more except by fraud and graft? No, lets offer that Library job at 70 thousand and just hire the "Best" person that applies. Lets pay a School Superintendent twice what a starting elementary teacher makes and hire the best that applies. Lets pay Hennepin County Commissioners 50 or 60 thousand dollars and elect the best ones that run. And lets pay City Council people their 50 or 60 thousand and elect the best person that runs. If City Council or County Commissioner is too big a job for the pay, how about if we make it part time, and elect twice as many to fill the position. That way they will be more responsive to those who elect them, and we will get politicians who have real jobs to support themselves. We might get real talented people. We certainly need more people who view the job as service, rather than as a career. Jim Graham, Ventura Village >>Without a struggle, there can be no progress. - Frederick Douglass >>Without conflict communication and novel synthesis of information cannot take place. Conflict is the fertile soil in which creativity grows. - Master Toe paraphrasing Zimmel _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
