I was LOL (laughing out loud) when I read the celebration for “transparency” for salaries at the Rood Center this weekend following the fiasco in the City of Bell. The local media was getting spun too. But it wasn’t always that way.
“In light of the corrupt and insane actions by the City of Bell that have come to light recently, we are making a concerted effort to remind residents of Nevada County the salaries for all County staff positions can continue to be found on our County website at http://www.mynevadacounty.com,”; the county’s Friday memo read. “This information will be more prominently displayed on our home page within the next week.”
That’s real progress, because when I was Editor of The Union back in 2007, the arrows were flying (and landing in my back) when it came to discussing city and county salaries and — as I ultimately did — “prominently displaying” them on the front page of the newspaper. “How dare you?” some people suggested.
We also wrote the original stories about the “double dipping” undersheriff John Trauner — whose father was a dean of local government — to underscore the problem with public sector benefits. The arrows flew on that one too.
It required some real effort to publish the salaries of Rood Center executives, including lots of discussion about using the proper “benchmarks” to measure — not hide — earlier pay increases. An email went out to Rood Center department heads that their salaries were going to be published in the newspaper.
At the time county Supervisors were discussing whether to grant across-the-board pay raises to county workers — a plan that I questioned but was approved. It got the ball rolling on increases for department heads and the county executive officer — all ahead of the recession.
In Grass Valley and Nevada City, government officials were receiving double-digit pay raises. And all of them were handing out the same runaway benefits that we are discussing now.
This was a story I wanted to pursue because — even back then — you could see the handwriting on the wall with what I called “the great California train wreck” in one editorial. It was just harder to get people to listen. Now we’re all listening.
“I’ve always wondered why in a county that is so predominantly GOP that I don’t hear as much concern as I expect about big government and fiscal restraint,” I wondered in August 2007.
Or as I wrote in March 2007: “You already know about Gene Haroldsen, who was paid $105,000 in accrued sick and vacation pay after being fired as the city administrator of Grass Valley. You also know that Haroldsen’s interim replacement – former Yuba City manager Jeff Foltz – is making $13,000 per month. That’s more than what Haroldsen brought home.”
“By the county’s own admission, rank-and-file contracts are coming up for renewal, retiree health insurance will have to be paid upfront every year, and the jail needs to be expanded.
“But that’s not all. Like it or not, our county’s economy is hitched to Sacramento’s wagon – for well-paying jobs, school programs, drug-rehabilitation programs and infrastructure improvements. If they put a kink in the funding spigot hose – and I think they will – we will suffer.
“It’s not too late to avoid the budgetary train wreck. But it’s going to take a major reality check, shedding the attitude of government entitlement, as well as a concerted effort by government, administrators, taxpayers and labor unions to preserve what makes our Golden State golden. Otherwise, we’re going to wind up like the ‘Cannonball Express’ – without any heroic song.”
Sound familiar?
Here are some of the articles from back then:
•“Raises OK’d for county workers, officials”
•Ignoring the elephant in the corner
•Big raise for county executive
•Leading by example?
•Undersheriff retired but stays on payroll
•Undersheriff who retired “twice” takes new county job
•Would you like one dip or maybe two?
•An editorial by Mike Sherman defending the county executive officer’s pay raise is here.
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