Compensation Perks at City Hall
Letter to the editor

It is interesting to note that staff included the employee compensation numbers as part of the revised budget for the special meeting of July 31, 2006. Have you ever heard of including payroll numbers in advance before they are reviewed and/or approved?

I have reviewed the budget in detail, and there seems to be a disconnect between who drives the train and who is simply aboard for the ride. What a glorious ride it must be to get payroll increases on autopilot.

The compensation plan should be set aside until after the budget is finished. It should be agendized separately and filtered by our city council so that everyone is on the same page. The checks and balances of our city government should require as much.

Is it too much to ask that our elected leaders do their job and approve payroll separately instead lumping it in with the larger revision of the budget? Where is our leadership for the benefit of taxpayers?

James Edward Woodin
Mission Viejo