Cabarrus Cheap Seats

Harold is not going to take down his list of names, base salaries, and position titles or revise it like I’d requested. Something told me that appealing to his and Coy’s on the basis of human decency would like trying to sell spinach to a six-year-old. I’m sure it’s been done; but I’ve never seen it.

What’s more interesting than what he posted is what he didn’t post. If Harold is really doing a complete, independent review of the salaries he would have to consider other compensation factors:

• Job Description
• Education
• Number of People Supervised
• Seniority/Years of Service
• Comparison to Similar Compensation in Other Counties

Not to mention more arbitrary figures like how much it would cost to attract another candidate, how much it would cost to contract the position out, etc.

Why did he do this? He just wants to point out that John Day makes $150K and change.

And?

If Harold can easily find someone in the private sector to manage an organization with an annual budget of more than $170 million, a staff greater than 800, a diverse “customer base” of 150,000 people, and have to deal with a bevy of agencies all state, local, and federal - I could get him a job as head recruiter for my company.

The fact of the matter is that he can’t. Public sector jobs are not known for the big money; but they are - historically - a little more secure than those of us who are subject to the winds of the market.

Bottom Line

When you hear Coy and his friends use slogans like “Put People Before Politics” - just remember how quickly after the election they pulled this little stunt. It wasn’t much different than when he was first elected in 1999 under the slogan of “Let’s Put Kids First”. Of course, the oldest of those kids that got “put first” are now paying higher taxes because of the decisions made by him and his allies on the Cabarrus Taxpayers’ Association.

When they come up with a new slogan - watch out: somebody is going to get it.