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January 18, 2006
Money for nothing
dol·lar-a-year (dŏl'ər-ə-yîr')
adj.
Of, relating to, or being an official, employee, or consultant who receives token payment for services rendered: a dollar-a-year senator.
During World War I and World War II, Americans of independent financial means (i.e., rich guys) served in the U.S. government for a token sum, often just one dollar a year, refusing a salary they didn't need in order to maximize their contribution to the public good.
The taxpayers got perhaps the best return ever on their money, gaining the expertise of business titans for the war effort, at the cost of a few sawbucks.
No one could accuse these men of taking the jobs out of greed; government service was simply an opportunity to do their duty. Where are such men now?
I ask because of a disturbing practice in county government, one that reeks of back-slapping, back-room deals, greed and a willingness to feed out of the public trough because no one is looking.
Here's how it works. A career civil servant retires with a full pension, often close to his take-home pay. He is then re-hired by his former employer to do the same job he did before he retired, earning another paycheck for said employment. So, the retired employee receives his pension check from the county every month, plus his paycheck from the county every two weeks for performing the same job duties.
Wait, that can't be right, can it? It sounds like stealing, doesn't it? Two checks for the same work? I bet you didn't know how good (read: lucrative) civil service could be. Although it doesn't seem right to call it "service," seeing as how the only one getting serviced is the taxpayers, who are getting it good and hard.
What possible justification can there be for this fleecing of the public treasury? Some people say that these workers are an immense repository of knowledge and experience. Agreed. But that's what happens when people retire; they take their skills with them.
This isn't like when someone retires and then begins a second career with another employer; that's hardly anyone's definition of double dipping. It's when the worker does the same job for the same employer that one begins to sniff around for the source of the Tammany stench.
There are honorable ways for retirees to serve the citizens of Ventura County without forfeiting their honor or betraying the public trust. They could volunteer their time. Don't laugh; the district attorney's office has had volunteer attorneys for years.
And if volunteering offends their (inflated) egos, they can always come back to work for a dollar a year. At least they can say they're not giving it away for free.
Or, if they don't want to retire, then don't.
Finally, what of the agency heads who countenance such sweetheart deals? Don't they have a fiduciary duty to the public, to ensure that the monies they receive are well spent? Does paying a man $160,000 a year to do an $80,000 job sound like the public is getting a good return on its investment?
Or does it sound like pigs feeding at the trough?
Posted by Mike Lief at January 18, 2006 11:29 PM