Public vs. Private

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Time for another anti-government rant that’s bound to garner me more love and fans from the public service union mob.

Here are three adjacent stories that greeted me on the front page of this morning’s local paper:

frontpage

So, from top to bottom, here’s what we have:

  • An article about how, for the first time, a Palo Alto civil “servant” had crossed above the $400,000 annual salary level;
  • Below it, a piece about how a woman who owns a small cafe is, out of desperation, opening up her little business just to survive, now that she is facing an eviction notice and a pile of bills;
  • Another article, this one from nearby Mountain View, stating how the administrators in the city were not only not cutting anyone’s pay, but were actually giving themselves and all their co-workers a generous raise.

That, in a nutshell, is the world we live in today. A city manager of a town of 50,000 people pulling down nearly half a million bucks a year for doing – – what, exactly?? – – and a woman busting her ass, risking fines and jail time, just to put a little food on the table and provide employment.

I glanced at the LinkedIn profile of the aforementioned city manager and, as should surprise no one, he has basically been a municipal bureaucrat his entire life.

He’s never had to stress meeting a payroll. He’s never designed anything. Never created a product. Never written a book.

Like any other civic employee, he breezes into the office sometime in the morning, does his city-manager paperwork-pushing things, and then glides right out. Direct deposit of his massive salary takes care of the rest.

career

And just in case you think this is a strange exception, no, all the employees for the city make six figures, even if you’re pushing a broom. I mean, hell, even the Assistant Police Chief is in the $400k club! I guess because of all the massive crime gangs and mafia organizations that dominate my little town and terrorize all of its citizens every day.

sala

I seriously have no idea what these hundreds and hundreds of Palo Alto “servants” do 5 days a week. Oh, wait a moment, did I say 5 days? Excuse me, I forgot to mention: they actually have a 4 day workweek every other week. Probably because they’re tired, the poor dears.

Listen, I’ve received huffy emails form former government employees who think they are God’s gift to mankind, but crudely speaking, I perceive government employees as parasites of the people. And we can all live with parasites, but………….not at $400,000 a year, please. Thanks so much.