In my opinion the salaries in general do not seem to be too high. I think one could make an argument that we do not pay enough to attract and retain the key talent that we need in our city.

The one area one could balk at would be the Mayor and council salaries. But that seems to be a different issue.

Probably not, but there are some that I would question. Administrative Assitants for example seems higher than normal. Especially when you account for a City Admin who is here to assist the Mayor in the day to day operations. There is really no need to pay an Administrative Assistant that high of a salary.

YES! That office assistant is making $32,000 per year! She's living like a QUEEN!!!

Ah...

So some EMTs are making the equivalent of about $18,000 per year??? And paramedics about $27.000? Yes, I'm concerned!

Guys, the BEST paid person in the city is making less than $90k!

Are you asking if we're "concerned" they are too high, or too low?

Alison

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Alison, are you sure it's $32K? The way I came out was over $42,000. That, in my opinion, is a bit high for such a job title. In California, perhaps you'd get that high but not in Utah in the private sector.

Darran

Darran, I disagree with you. I think pay should be based on skills and abilities. If we pay very little we will not get very much. If this person is incompetent, or has little to no experience then you could argue that they are overpaid, but if this person has years of experience and is a highly skilled office manager, then no they are not overpaid at all. Likely it is exactly the opposite.

The City Admin is an executive level position in our city, not a secretary, thus the higher pay. Again though whether we should have a City Admin and a Full time Mayor is another matter.

It is sad that so often in Utah employees are seen as a disposable commodity. This attitude looks at employees as a cost center rather than as indispensable assets.

Our city has made so many blunders over the years, one might wonder if we paid more competitive wages whether we could keep more experienced employees who could have kept us from making those costly mistakes.

Jon,

I'm not talking about the City Admin's pay. I think that's well adaquate. I am talking about an Administrative Assitant pay that is set at $42+K.

Looking at the Labor Dept stats, this is on the rather high end of such a job. Average pays of this position is $30K to $36K (2006). You are paying over $42K for a position which is a bit high.

Darran

Ya I can tell you stories of my high school teachers who would throw up problems on board, load you up with homework, and then sit behind their desk all day surfing the Internet--in at least one case, to play the stock market.

My feeling is a bigger budget will only make bigger problems. The system is broken, not the financing.

If the city officials had a blog, we could see all the great things they were accomplishing [or not] on a daily basis. That would justify it for me.