On 3/23/05 11:24 PM, "gemgram" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Jonathon Palmer says, >> The information presented is not a raise, but rather appears > to be a change in Grade which gives a change in salary range."< > > Jonathon, that is a whole bunch of dust thrown up and spin to call something > by another name. Heck, perhaps they deserve it, but somebody will be making > $30,000 more, what ever you call it. What exactly you mean by "IS" is not > our question, and IS not what Booker was saying.
As someone who works in government, I can attest to what Jonathan was saying. Most civil service employees that I am aware of gain salary increases and/or promotions using a steps and lanes system, similar to how public school teachers get paid. For example, when I started at the office where I currently work, my starting salary was about $26K, which was the second lane in the entry-level step for my position because I had a year's worth of prior experience that my supervisor gave me credit for when he offered me the position. The top lane for that position was about $38K, which is what someone with about ten or twelve years' experience in that position would earn. About two years after I started, I was promoted to a position with some greater responsibility and subsequently a higher pay grade. That was a two-step promotion and came with about a $3K salary increase. I should also point out that with each collective bargaining contract comes some changes in how the salary grades are assigned and also, from time to time, salary grades are changed for specific positions (such as information technology specialists) to ensure that salaries are competitive enough to attract or keep highly-qualified candidates. Now looking at what Booker posted and in Jonathan's case, it would appear that he was slotted into a lower grade than his predecessor, which would explain the lower salary range. That could be due to a number of factors, but the most likely one is probably less experience. In the case of Michael Christenson, whose current pay rate is somewhere in the range between $65,066-$96,141 and proposed new pay rate is somewhere in the range between $103,500-$114,395, the most likely situation is that he is now at the top of his current range and would move up to the bottom of his proposed new range. Which means he would not get a $30K raise. He would get about a $7K raise. You can argue whether that's merited, but at least make sure you are talking about what's actually being proposed instead of making stuff up or blowing off someone's explanation as "bull" just because you don't like it. I would reiterate Jonathan's suggestion to wait until the staff report is issued that would actually provide some details and context on just what Booker Hodges was given. Until then, we cannot really be sure whether there's a lot of bull going on or just a lot of hot air... Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
