The Vindicator is Making Much Ado About Nothing Regarding Public Employee Pay

The Vindicator has a new feature called Government Watch that, in their words is "in response to the immense scrutiny that government spending — from schools to counties to the state and beyond — faces in our tough economy."

It's a fine idea, after all one the primary functions of the press is to keep an eye on government and inform the public of what is happening.  However, the Vindicator has taken a stance on public employee pay that borders on ridiculous.  Bertram deSouza clearly thinks all employees, especially those at YSU, are overpaid. The paper has a "goal to publish the five-year spending and salary histories of key agencies".  This includes publishing the names of employees and what they make.

What public employees make is no secret.  Anyone who wants to find out can do so.  What I find remarkable is that the evidence to back up their editorial wrath about public salaries doesn't amount to much.  I pulled the March pay adjustment spreadsheet and averaged the new salary column.  You know what I found?  The average pay for the employees on this sheet is ...$39,593.46.  That's overpaid?   That's about nineteen bucks an hour.  And what do these folks do?  Well, we've got JFS case managers, veteran srervice investigators, equipment operators and JJC group leaders.

These are positions that demand skills and education and apparently the Vindicator thinks this level of compensation is unaffordable. I'm don't agree.  The public deserves a civil service that can operate efficiently and safely.  Nineteen bucks an hour seems like a good bargain.