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More on City Hall salaries
I have to believe that readers have more to say about today's article about the salaries that City Hall employees earn than criticizing the redundant verbiage in the editor's note. What do you think about a DPW plow driver earning enough to feed a sub-Saharan nation for a couple years? What do you think about Police and Fire officer's access to overtime? Should the city explore adding more full-time positions and cutting back on OT?
As was mentioned in the paper today, that article was intended as one part of a series of articles, and reader input will likely help to shape future installments, after all, it's your money. Please let me know if you have any questions at all. That you'd like to see answered. A police officer I spoke with today (probably miffed at seeing his name in the paper) suggested that I look into how much teacher in the city school district earn. I think I'll suggest that one over to Education Reporter Ann Marie French, but it is certainly a valid question. Especially since teachers enjoy enough vacations days to turn us 9 to 5ers green with envy.
I'm very interested to hear your thoughts, so send me an email or post on the blog if you have any questions not answered in today's story.
As was mentioned in the paper today, that article was intended as one part of a series of articles, and reader input will likely help to shape future installments, after all, it's your money. Please let me know if you have any questions at all. That you'd like to see answered. A police officer I spoke with today (probably miffed at seeing his name in the paper) suggested that I look into how much teacher in the city school district earn. I think I'll suggest that one over to Education Reporter Ann Marie French, but it is certainly a valid question. Especially since teachers enjoy enough vacations days to turn us 9 to 5ers green with envy.
I'm very interested to hear your thoughts, so send me an email or post on the blog if you have any questions not answered in today's story.
posted by The Saratogian City Desk at
4:46 PM
6 Comments:
"What do you think about Police and Fire officer's access to overtime? Should the city explore adding more full-time positions and cutting back on OT?"
How about managing the Department and its staff? You should do some independent research before leading the answers to the questions you choose.
It's no secret that this what, 75-person Department has bloated its self-importance to a point where an attempt to correct the OT abuses resulted in at least one trip to the Elks.
The summer Swells have more to do with the added OT (on senior staffers, padding their retirement package) than it does for the managing and balancing of this Department’s Budget. The RaceCourse for instance has always managed their “ staffing needs” with part-time security. No need to pay and retire with benefits the employment of staff that is only needed to fulfill the demands of August traffic.
With only 14 square miles to patrol, why not try to find an explanation why the present force is not sufficient. The County’s 200-person force patrols 860 square miles. This is a small City. Ask what do the full-time Safety inspectors do? How is it that it took all these years of "building descrimination" to announce over 100 violations, many of them a product of their own decisions and under their own oversight?
It’s a little like that tainted meat story in the press recently. "Don’t worry all the meat has already been eaten." Where was the oversight? The question is always, where's the Management?
Another issue is that despite the overtime worked by the police they are never to be found on busy summer evenings around Caroline and Phila streets except right in front of the bars. A few blocks away the drunks are peeing on lawns, roaring off in their cars, dumping pizza trash and broken bottles, and getting into fights. I live in the area and that is every single night all summer long. I get up in the morning and pick up their trash in front of my house.
On the surface it appears the tail is wagging the dog at extremely high cost to the taxpayers.
I had to let an employee go after months of carrying costs. I've cut back a bit on my driving if only to pretend to save gas and costs. I budget my household family expenses.
I am dumbfounded that you question inefficiency with more inefficiency. The "access to overtime" is abused from the top. Just do the job more efficiently.
We enjoy a safe City, and the Police keep it that way. The Bank robberies, burglaries, and murders are usually solved by our City Police Department. Do we want to compare to surrounding cities like Albany, Schenectady, or Troy? The saleries of city employees is not the story! The saleries are accually low, most all of the higher year end saleries contain alot of overtime. If the city hires more police officers, the cost of training and medical benefits will increase, which is a hidden cost. And so we get it correct, the City is 32 square miles, handled by a 70 member police department. Saratoga County is 813 square miles, the Saratoga County Sheriff's Department has 120 members. The areas they cover are rural but they also get busy. Why cna't the Saratogians reporters write an upbeat story? We have a great City and County, let people know how great our area is, you won't win any awards with these articles, you just waste paper and time!
"..the City is 32 square miles, handled by a 70 member police department."
That's the total land area, yet half of that land is unbuildable wetlands land, park land, State land, Yaddo, and private college and public school lands. Our City is not as large as some in the PS Department would like you to believe. Curbing overtime or simply managing it is a good fiscal approach to services provided. Maybe the Saratogian should report that 67% (?) of the PSD live outside the taxing district of this City. The taxpayers should be concerned with where their money goes as well as who pays for services and requests for capital projects.
The wages should also be separated by Department to quell all those bloggers who are so concerned with monies spent.
We talk of crimes and safety? When was the last time a Broadway resident felt the presence of a uniform police officer (not including the parking enforcement)? Have you seen any trucks pulled over on Broadway lately? How many fines did the City receive last year for illegal trucks? Truck violations? Illegal Parking? Fire & Building Safety violations?
This City has spent two years listening to whining about its taxpayers not providing an effective workplace for our Public Safety Department. How constructive was it to pay punitive fines that were preventable? How sad to complain about violations that were the product of inefficient management and what only can be described as deliberate sabotage. Yes, they need more effective space -- but who pays for it and how much?
I think the Saratogian should finish the story.
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