Ya, I know I’m just piling it on here, but seeing how the Politics of Cynicism is prevailing over the Politics of Hope, I wanted to point out this item in today’s Herald.
not totally sure it’s such a slam dunk. I can imagine how resort cops might get pretty busy on occasion — although Nantucket is no Daytona Beach. Anyway, good on Heslam for keeping the fire on.
frankskeffingtonsays
…this Globe story. David’s “Not getting it” post motivated me to point this story out.
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p>Sure, in and of itself…not a big deal. But this is becoming more than a pattern with Deval. When you compare his campaign rhetoric with his behavior as an incumbent–they really are two differnet people.
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p>Cahill (no favorite of mine) is already smelling blood. Is it only a matter or time before we get a Barbara Ackerman-type candidate challenging him?
joetssays
how does a 27% raise for the single sheriff of a county make that county a better place?
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p>This argument would be far more cogent if the issue was funds for hiring new police officers.
christophersays
…a discussion on the merits. We get all worked up about how horrible it is to raise public officials pay. Is there any chance the raises might actually be warranted?
What exactly is the merit in raising the sheriffs’ pay during one of the worst economies in decades? One with only 25 prisoners and the other without any at all? At $97K a year!
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p>This is a slam dunk. This is cracked. These guys are not performing the same duties as the other sheriffs, and should not be paid the same – which is why they missed out on the last wage increase. I don’t care if they haven’t gotten a raise in ten years; I think it should be questioned whether these positions are needed at all.
mizjonessays
do the other sheriffs perform that these two do not? Just looking for clarification.
This bill, if enacted, would almost certainly save a lot more money than it spends with the raises. By transferring the sheriffs’ offices out of the ghastly remains of MA county government, the Gov’s office estimates possible savings of $10 million. Even if only a tenth of that — $1 million — materializes, it’s a lot more than $52,000. From the Gov’s statement:
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The Patrick Administration has put forward a comprehensive reform plan that will put an end to the archaic and fractured county sheriff funding system. The proposal brings the remaining seven county sheriff offices, and their budgets, under state oversight, saving up to $10 million in taxpayer dollars.
This plan will promote a more efficient, consistent and transparent budgeting system to reform the costly and unpredictable county system that’s currently in place.
This legislation will promote more efficient government by transferring to the Commonwealth the seven sheriffs who are still county officers. The other seven sheriffs’ offices already became state agencies when the Legislature abolished their county governments. This bill will not abolish the remaining seven county governments.
This bill will provide more stable and predictable budgeting for the transferred sheriffs’ offices. It will enable bringing them onto the state payroll and accounting systems. It will allow the state Group Insurance Commission to provide their employees’ health care, at considerable savings.
This legislation results from extensive discussion with the seven county sheriffs and others, following similar legislation that I filed last year.
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p>Now, would it be possible to get this bill through while leaving salaries where they are? Maybe; I don’t know. So maybe that approach should be tried, though maybe there are political reasons why it wouldn’t be possible (do those two sheriffs have that much clout?). But just be aware that the bill as a whole is clearly a good thing — it’s not just a salary boost for sheriffs on island paradises.
run such sleepy facilties that one doesn’t have any prisoners and the other has 25. The largest part of the job is managing a prison population! Kind of crazy, isn’t it, to give these guys such a big raise in this economy, when there isn’t commensurate labor?
not totally sure it’s such a slam dunk. I can imagine how resort cops might get pretty busy on occasion — although Nantucket is no Daytona Beach. Anyway, good on Heslam for keeping the fire on.
…this Globe story. David’s “Not getting it” post motivated me to point this story out.
<
p>Sure, in and of itself…not a big deal. But this is becoming more than a pattern with Deval. When you compare his campaign rhetoric with his behavior as an incumbent–they really are two differnet people.
<
p>Cahill (no favorite of mine) is already smelling blood. Is it only a matter or time before we get a Barbara Ackerman-type candidate challenging him?
how does a 27% raise for the single sheriff of a county make that county a better place?
<
p>This argument would be far more cogent if the issue was funds for hiring new police officers.
…a discussion on the merits. We get all worked up about how horrible it is to raise public officials pay. Is there any chance the raises might actually be warranted?
What exactly is the merit in raising the sheriffs’ pay during one of the worst economies in decades? One with only 25 prisoners and the other without any at all? At $97K a year!
<
p>This is a slam dunk. This is cracked. These guys are not performing the same duties as the other sheriffs, and should not be paid the same – which is why they missed out on the last wage increase. I don’t care if they haven’t gotten a raise in ten years; I think it should be questioned whether these positions are needed at all.
do the other sheriffs perform that these two do not? Just looking for clarification.
<
p>Thanks.
This bill, if enacted, would almost certainly save a lot more money than it spends with the raises. By transferring the sheriffs’ offices out of the ghastly remains of MA county government, the Gov’s office estimates possible savings of $10 million. Even if only a tenth of that — $1 million — materializes, it’s a lot more than $52,000. From the Gov’s statement:
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p>
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p>And from the filing letter:
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p>
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p>Now, would it be possible to get this bill through while leaving salaries where they are? Maybe; I don’t know. So maybe that approach should be tried, though maybe there are political reasons why it wouldn’t be possible (do those two sheriffs have that much clout?). But just be aware that the bill as a whole is clearly a good thing — it’s not just a salary boost for sheriffs on island paradises.
run such sleepy facilties that one doesn’t have any prisoners and the other has 25. The largest part of the job is managing a prison population! Kind of crazy, isn’t it, to give these guys such a big raise in this economy, when there isn’t commensurate labor?