A Reciprocal game they play.
Fort Smith, AR City Manager Ray Gosack takes another bite out of the Federal Government lexicon while trying to justify raises for city employees without salient facts. September 4, 2014
Gosack using his 2nd edition of Orwellian government doublespeak in his campaign for a city employee raise.
The words “leakage” and “pay adjustments” jump out. “Leakage” is designed to replace the accepted English words quit and/or fired, and “pay adjustments” likewise; rather than the time honored salary or pay increases.
The above words are designed to be more malleable.
Recall: The 1st edition of the Orwellian government doublespeak that citizens were bombarded with “quality of place”, “sense of place”, “event nodes”. Gosack must think he is Winston Smith (1984) whose job it is to propagandize.
Gosack uses a misleading premise in making his case for employee pay raises absent a public foundation on which to support.
Gosack states city employees have had no pay raises for four years. Cost of living increases ranging from 1 ½ % to 3% per year have been given. These are pay raises no matter what you call them.
Gosack continues, “Fort Smith compares its salaries with about ten other cities across the U.S.” Here Gosack is attempting to make the point that the city is making an honorable attempt to remain in the format of acceptable pay scales. More obfuscation.
By this alleged method city leadership protects themselves from the public by being able to retort, “we are paying what we have to”, or “that’s what everyone else is paying”
All cities are wildly diverse in their makeups. Population demographics—old, young, percentage of 3rd worlders, education, employment vs. unemployment, agrarian vs. manufacturing, natural resources, and the existing tax base. In government there is always the tendency to overstaff throughout, which is certainly the case of Fort Smith. This is only a partial list of considerations that should dictate pay increases.
What happens in Joplin, MO; Rockford, IL; Paducah, KY; Jonesboro, AR; Peoria, IL; etc. offers no foundation for determining salaries or pay scales for Fort Smith, AR. City Government, stand on your own two feet.
Typically, all governments pay their employees on average 22% more than those laboring in comparable jobs in the private sector. That includes cash and perks.
Gosack further states, “We are slipping behind”. Gosack registers no concern regarding middleclass woes, i.e. unemployment, underemployment, salaries that plateaued 10 years ago and these are the folks who pay for the overprotected & proliferating government sectors.
Specifically, for Gosack & the City Directors: Produce statistics relevant to the relationship between city government salaries and private sector salaries of like or similar job skills at all levels and allow the taxpaying citizens to view the results. Included would be dollars paid, health insurance, paid holidays, sick days and days off, vacations, in some cases use of vehicles, retirement, etc.
If the City Directors who claim to be doing the work of the citizens do not demand Gosack produce the above statistics for citizen viewing they can only be described as counterfeit representatives.
The above statistics can be procured simply by calling the open borders, cheap labor outfit commonly called the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce. They most certainly can tell the city residents how many illegals permeate our job market, along with other specific requests, and that it costs $20,500 per school year to keep an illegal in the government school system. (This statistic comes from the U.S. General Accounting Office).
City Government, produce honest salary appraisals.
Joe McCutchen
arkansasfreedom.net