Lars Larson on “Pay Raises and Public Officials”

Pay raises and public officials don’t go together too well right now. The economy is in the dumps and most American families have seen their paychecks go backwards. They’ve certainly seen their retirement accounts go backwards.

Their prospect for raises in the future just doesn’t look likely any time soon. Yet, down in the government class they’ve been getting all the raises they want.

Well, maybe not all the raises they want, but Portland City Hall just voted itself a $3.7 million raise for all those employees including City Commissioners.

A couple of them gave the money back, but that’s not good enough. The fact is, the government needs to reflect the people they serve. Somehow the people in the government class have forgotten that relationship.

They serve us. Not the other way around. When the people who pay the taxes that support government have seen their paychecks go backwards, the last thing the government class should be entitled to do is push their paychecks forward, on the backs of Oregon taxpayers.

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