All right already…they don’t ALL get big fat raises every year. Apparently, I am in some very bad company with last week’s opnion. Also apparently, I need some serious educating.
That’s why I love this job. I learn so much. So…teach me.
The thing is, I usually DO think that our town employees are underpaid, and I’m usually pretty vocal about it. I was trying to convey that the override is going to be a hard sell.
The whole town needs to be convinced so it passes in a townwide ballot. First, it will have to pass at Town Meeting. As I said last week, that’s easy. All the town employees will be there.
Calm down…I want to add something here.
If town workers want the support of the public, it would help if the Town Meeting members who work for the town didn’t leave after voting for their self-interests. It’s insulting and infuriating. The rest of TM members are doing what they were elected to do, voting on the WHOLE warrant. Stay in the damned room after you vote for your own raises. Most of us don’t have the luxury of voting for our own raises, so have a little respect for where the money’s coming from.
Many of you are indeed underpaid. That’s why we publish the salaries of town employees every year. And we always get some grief over it. Why does it have to be by name, they ask? Why not just a salary item? This is why. If you want to see who is underpaid and who is not, then we need to see that. It is public information after all. So, stay tuned for that. Then you can look at those salaries and see if YOU could live on them.
We’ll be doing more on the budget and why town officials feel an override of Proposition 2 1/2 is the best answer. This problem has been building for a few years. Maybe it is time for Prop 2 1/2 to go. But then what? I’ve long believed that property taxes are an insult. No one should have to pay a ton of money on their primary residence. But that kind of structural change is way beyond my lifespan.
So let’s stick with the problem at hand: Everyone who works full time for the town should be making a living wage, right? I guess we just have to decide what a “living wage” is, huh?
Meanwhile, see page 3 for some budget talk from the Select Board meeting. More on all of this soon…
And on Monday…VOTE. We have a couple of contested races. You’ll have to look at back issues for candidate statements. See page 14 for the basics.
Until next week then…see ya,
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the Heroes!
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