Comments on: Statistical surprise: Civil servants overpaid

By: dto510

dto510 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:06:19 +0000

Link fixed. Here’s the new chart of city payrolls – Oakland’s still the highest.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s0449.pdf

By: Ellington

Ellington — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:21:52 +0000

the link to the census report is broken: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/08s0453.pdf

anyone have a working link?

By: Oakland city workers to vote on strike « FutureOakland

Oakland city workers to vote on strike « FutureOakland — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:53:59 +0000

[...] To set the stage, a union organizer penned an op-ed for BeyondChron, asking for a “bailout for the needy of Oakland” – the coddled city workforce. The piece highlights the union’s strongest complaint, that librarians do not have adequate security, but largely focuses on outside vendors that city and Port workers blame for cost-cutting pressures. The MSM, which has totally ignored the labor strife that threatens to consume City Hall, is helping the unions by focusing on management travel perks that are small potatoes compared to the legions of city workers who are overpaid by many measures. [...]

By: Something is rotten in the state of… « FutureOakland

Something is rotten in the state of… « FutureOakland — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:33:40 +0000

[...] tiny savings from eliminating such direct services are not the focus of this blog, and neither is the evidence that Oakland’s city workers are the highest-paid in the entire country and are signif…. This blog is not about the bad budget. It’s about the bad [...]

By: dto510

dto510 — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:10:50 +0000

Fixed, thanks.

By: Anonymous Coward

Anonymous Coward — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:47:46 +0000

This link was broken on 8-21-08:

http://www.abetteroakland.com/documents/salarysurvey.pdf

By: dto510

dto510 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:20:22 +0000

Len – Yes, the total payroll does include police and fire but not non-monetary benefits (ie, health). The figures for overpayment come from multiple sources: the COLA adjustments over inflation, which match the negotiations with SEIU 1021, and the pay-per-position excesses compared to the region (that survey excludes public safety positions). Bonuses and management leave don’t come anywhere close to these more abstract, less discretionary overpayment data.

Max – You’re welcome! It’s important to see the forest in the statistical trees. It’d be great to have a good-government group (besides the stick-in-the mud League of Women Voters), but the benefits from a well-run city are so diffuse that it’s hard to see that arising. Hopefully, a more-informed public perception of the bureaucratic situation will make it harder for certain Council members to give away the store without anyone noticing.

By: Max Allstadt

Max Allstadt — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:54:51 +0000

DTO -

Thanks for consolidating all this info. It’s been a little scattershot, but concerning nonetheless.

Perhaps oakland needs a citizens group that shows up in force at city council meetings to advocate for sane pay for city employees, and greater performance standards.

By: len raphael

len raphael — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:49:36 +0000

can you tell if that 56 pct of the 1 Bill budget includes cops and fire? if it does,then we’d have to reduce the overpaid compensation.

on the other hand, that city audit report, which judging by the oakland trib report only dealt with a few minor salary advances, is more damning than that salary survey. that report describes a bureaucracy that helps itself to aditional compensation like “management leave” and “executive bonuses” whenever it feels like it.