We are definitely not getting what we paid for

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time over the last couple months, he may have noticed that I am very upset over the state of Muni, and specifically with how much everyone involved in it is getting paid. Well, it looks like this problem is not just restricted to Muni. It looks like just about everybody involved in San Francisco government is getting paid way too much money.

The San Francisco Chronicle today released an article detailing just how many people in city government makeover hundred thousand dollars a year. That's not hundred thousand dollars a year with over time, that's $100,000 a year as your base salary for a city employee. In case you didn't read the article, let me just summarize it for you: 1 in 3 city employees makes over hundred thousand dollars a year.

In many cases, now paid by the city and County of San Francisco to its employees are higher than those of other surrounding municipalities. What is interesting to me, is that not only is it higher than surrounding municipalities, that is in-line or higher than the private sector for similar jobs. Are we getting our value for paying the people who serve us as city employees? Or to put it another way, if this employee unions are going to insist be paid private sector wages, then why are we going to expect private sector results from our employees?

I think it's clear, we are not getting our money's worth. Muni is a travesty. the San Francisco public schools are rapidly heading towards travesty. Homelessness is still a rampant problem in the city. But hey, our Muni workers get treated like kings for failing to do their jobs well and the head of the ethics commission can walk away with $140,000 in compensation for doing... what?

I understand that people should be paid what they're worth. However, the problem is I don't think that the people of the city of San Francisco are getting what they paid for. If you want to be paid top dollar, he has to show that you were top dollar. If you can get paid more than people in the private sector, significantly more in one of the factors of the benefits and pensions are things that no private employer can match these days, then why aren't the city streets paved properly? And why aren't the homeless in doubt with an effective efficient manner? And why can't the buses run close to being on time in the city?

If you're getting paid like Barry Zito, then you damn well better pitch like Tim Lincecum.

First, let's fix the Muni travesty. Then the rest of the city government.