City Employee Pay Raises

Looks like the town of Trinidad wants to give their three full time employees a raise because they don't make enough to live in the town, none of them making over $16.00 an hour. Interesting, since there's a lot of people outside of government work that don't make that much. Wonder how they get along on less?

Someone points out how much city employees doing the same work in other places make. Seems like it makes a good case except they don't mention that Trinidad is much smaller than Arcata and Eureka and thus has a much smaller budget. Trinidad may or may not be able to afford the kind of wages and benefits larger towns can. Let's wish those three employees luck in getting their raise and hope Trinidad can afford it.

Maybe it's just me but there seems to be a lot more in the news lately about government employees, what a tough job they do and how dedicated they are. While I find it somewhat annoying, I'm still amused that these folks seem to be in a position where they're forced to justify their pay and benefits to the public. That's a good thing to see happen. Maybe it means the public's attitude toward government is shifting towards the negative? Ahhh, just wishful thinking on my part.