Has anyone stopped to think about what we pay our
"public servants" these days?
When I say public servant I am referring to elected officials at any
level. From your City Council member,
through County Commissioners Court, on up to State and National
representatives.
Once upon a time these various elective offices were
considered to be a way of serving the public good, and they all were - and
should still be - part time positions.
That is part of way they are considered to be public service. You know, busy people taking time out of
their busy lives to help the common good.
Right? I mean, it is obvious that
members of Congress only work a small portion of the time. Actually, they all spend more time
campaigning for their next election that they do performing the duties of the
offices to which they were elected!
And, guess what? Our
current situation is not the way it was supposed to be! Our founding fathers were not looking to
create a new profession, that of political office holders! The idea was for a few folks to devote some
time to the public good, and then to return to their private lives. And, let some other person serve a term. Constant turnover would be good for the
country! Certainly better than the same
old, same old of today.
Now, commensurate with this idea of short term service, for
the common good, was the idea that those who were elected to public office
might be reimbursed for their costs of travel to and from the place where they
worked together for that common good, and maybe a reasonable stipend for their
time.
Unfortunately, all we have ended up with is a new outlet for
one of the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins, greed. Here in El Paso, Texas, our County
Commissioners just voted themselves a hefty pay raise, citing - if you can
believe this - the huge responsibility of managing our large county budget as
being a requirement that they be paid - for their part time positions - an
annual salary that is more than double the median income of this poor county!
We really need to think about initiating term limits on
every elective office, across the nation.
If it is good enough for the office of President, it should certainly be
good enough for the folks on City Council.
Two terms, and you're out! And,
since these are ALL part time jobs, the salaries need to be commensurate with
the amount of work actually done.
Likewise, since these are part time positions, there should be no
employee benefits provided, although perhaps health care under medicare or
medicaid might be appropriate while in office.
Naturally, reasonable reimbursement for necessary travel and/or lodging
should be available. But, no more salary
and benefit packages as if these were full time employees. And, only the President should be entitled to
any lifetime benefits.
I suspect that this would save a ton of taxpayer dollars. Or, maybe we just need to find us a Cincinnatus?
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