|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Atherton City Council has delayed a decision to adjust salaries for middle management staff under a proposal that would have fixed the salaries at the 70th percentile in relation to other specified towns and cities in the area.
The item was pulled from the June 16 council agenda, and the matter will return to the employee bargaining unit, said Mayor Kathy McKeithen. She said the council decided to pull the item from the agenda during a closed session meeting before the regular meeting.
Ms. McKeithen said she couldn’t discuss why the council delayed action on the proposal because labor negotiations are confidential.
The adjustments were scheduled to go into effect in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Employees affected by the proposed adjustment include the police chief, the assistant city manager, the public works director, the planning administrator and the building official.
The proposed agreement would have guaranteed salary adjustments through 2012-13.
The cities and towns used to formulate the range of salaries to determine the 70 percentile target are: Menlo Park, Hillsborough, Millbrae, San Carlos, Los Gatos, Belmont, Brisbane, San Bruno, Los Altos, Woodside, and Saratoga.
The staff report did not include the fiscal impact of the proposed salary adjustments because the town won’t be able to determine the specific salaries for several months, after other cities in the comparison group determine their managers’ salaries, according to Ms. McKeithen.
Hopefully sanity and fiscal responsibility will prevail and this proposal will never return to the Council for a vote. The fact that the staff report did not include the fiscal impact of the proposed salary adjustments because the town won’t be able to determine the specific salaries for several months, after other cities in the comparison group determine their managers’ salaries clearly demonstrates that such an approach is hyper inflationary.
If everyone in an already rich comparison group, where was East Palo Alto and Redwood City for example, wants to be paid above average then this group of civil servants will soon be making twice as much as the citizens whom they serve.
If you do not like your salary, please resign and see if you can get a job with the towns that pay more. Problem solved.
We know what we get for 70th percentile compensation.
I wonder what kind of talent Atherton would be able to recruit for 50th or 60th percentile?
It seems as if it’s a pay me now or pay me later proposition.
In this day and age, why do people have to be paid more ? Are they working more ? Are they working harder ? Are they doing 2 jobs in stead of 1 ? Atherton really can’t afford to be shelling out money for salaries, they will need it for their law suits both present & future. Maybe that’s the way to go, sue the city & get a high price buyout !
The notion that Atherton has to pay at the 70th percentile in order to attract qualified talent is a fallacy.
All one needs to do is look at the performance of the Town during hte past couple of years. Officers who falsify police reports and police chief who looks the other way for example..
A Building Department with an attitude of anything goes. A City Manager who allows the Council to micromanage in violation of the Council Manager form of government.
What this Town rellly needs are people who aren’t motivated by money but who are motivated by the satisfaction of doing a good job and making an honest living.
People who feel we must pay at the 70th percentile to be able to attract talent are like people who buy wine by the price tag. They simply do ‘t know any better.
I say lower salaries to the 50th percentile. Those who stay are those who may just be worth keeping.
Look at the current crop of miscrean
ts who ocupy
Look no further than East Palo Alto to find out the implications of paying below market:
http://istanford.stanford.edu/article/epa-battles-cop-shortage
Though the story is about the EPA Police, the lesson extends to the Management positions.
At some point, the jurisdiction becomes a training ground. It’s a place to build a resume and move to a better paid opportunity. The costs associated with recruiting and training replacements overcomes the savings in wages and benefits.
Clearly, the economy could not be described as an employer’s market. But, whether or not jurisdictions are hiring now, there will always be attrition.
Pay below market, and you have an entirely new set of issues with which to contend.
Cat,
You have no idea what you are talking about. EPA has its own UNIQUE problems so you can’t compare apples to oranges.
The solution is simple. Freeze Atherton salaries wages until they are at the 50th percentile.
The way I do the math, the 50th percentile recommended in another post on the Town budget is by no means under market.