Nearly 200 L.A. County employees took home more than 250K in compensation last year

[Francesca9]

Source: LA Times

Nearly 200 Los Angeles County employees earned more than a quarter of a million dollars in 2009, according to a list of the county’s top earners released late Monday in response to a public records act request from The Times.

Many of the 199 workers named on the list included physicians, county firefighters and a handful of top sheriff’s employees, as well as well-known county leaders such as Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley ($345,587) and Sheriff Lee Baca ($325,664). Both Cooley and Baca earned a substantial amount of compensation listed as "other earnings," in Cooley's case about $53,000 and nearly $47,000 for Baca.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/nearly-200-la-county-employees-took-home-more-than-250k-in-compensation-last-year.html

[laconicsax]

1. What's wrong with high level county employees earning money?

I love how little is made of bank/Wall St. execs taking home millions in bonuses, but whenever a government employee makes more than minimum wage, it's big news.

[avaistheone1]

3. Because it is way too much for the work they are doing and us taxpayers can't afford it.

Not only to we windup paying them those huge salaries now, we pay them that same huge salary plus a hefty benefit package for the rest of their lives, and guess what the cities, counties and states are running out of money. Who would have thunk it?


Everyone wants to be paid like a Wall Street banker - well that is ridiculous, and those bankers aren't worth it either.

[laconicsax]

5. What would a 'fair' salary be for a district attorney in a jurisdiction of 10 million?

What about a sheriff for the same jurisdiction? Most on the list are doctors. How much should they make?

[avaistheone1]

8. Probably a bit more than half that given the generous benefit and retirement package

package they enjoy. If they think they should make more go out to the private sector and see what employers are willing to hire and pay them. There are boatloads of unemployed attorneys in California who would be more than happy to take their jobs.

[CreekDog]

14. Then you don't want them working overtime

And they work overtime in part because governments in California have so much difficulty adding positions thanks to never ending "freezes".

But you can't just not prosecute, not have doctors cover shifts and send firefighters home without adequate staffing.

And why should a physician work an 80 hour week for 125k/year?

[The Northerner]

7. +1

[Scuba]

13. That would be billions in bonuses for Wall Street. $144 B in 2009 alone.

[napi21]

2. How much of that $$ was taxpayer funded? After my first thoughts

of, Well gee, if Ca. is so stupid to pay their employees that much, then I feel no sympathy to that State. But then I read your last line about "other income". If it's not taxpayer funded then you have no right to complain. I'd even agree to bonuses based upon something like number of convictions in court for the AG, or some calculable grading that shows that employee did an exemplary job.

If it's base pay, that BS!

[The Northerner]

4. +1

[mackerel]

6. Where do I sign up for that gig?

[SHRED]

10. read the article

[SHRED]

9. Much of it in overtime...

...which is cheaper for the tax payer than hiring another position.

Troubling and small-minded how people get all irate over articles like this. As if these compensation levels come anywhere near a private sector position of equal education and responsibility.
And especially troubling here on the DU.

I thought this place was for bigger thinkers than those RW fruits who want everyone dragged down?
:shrug:

Go here for the reality:
http://www.slge.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={22748FDE-C3B8-4E10-83D0-959386E5C1A4}&DE={BD1EB9E6-79DA-42C7-A47E-5D4FA1280C0B}

War on Public Workers
http://www.thenation.com/article/war-public-workers


More discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=367x28821



---

[pinboy3niner]

12. +1000 Demonizing public employees is an RW strategy

It's part of their coordinated attack on government and unions. Sadly, it works because so many are uninformed and can't see the fallacies and distortions in the very skewed, inaccurate characterization of public workers they present.

Thanks for those great links. Good information there to counter these dishonest attacks. :thumbsup:

[tjwash]

11. Out of 109500 LA county employees, 104900 in the school district, and 56,200 for the city of L.A.

A whopping 200 of them in the very top tier level jobs pulled in over 250K in compensation, and believe me, they would be pulling in a WHOLE LOT MORE if they were in the private sector.

Yeah...it's outrageous. We need to bust up all the unions and privatize everything. That will fix it up...
:sarcasm:

On edit...DOH! I just realized I was responding to a tombstone. Shit...