Lake Worth to hold workshop on raising salaries for elected officials

Oh my! Don't we feel self-important. Apparently our Mayor doesn't think too highly of receptionists:

"I do think it's embarrassing that we make less than the lowest-paid receptionist," said Waterman, who earns $15,400 annually as mayor. "My day care cost alone is more than I make in a month."

Receptionists have children too. And they actually may be more important than the electeds.  All of our officials were well aware of the salary when they ran for office. I do think that meetings are out of control in terms of number and time of day - and I think that the Commissioners themselves could do a lot to control their frequency and length, but they choose not to. And they can be controlled by not further restricting public comment.

If anything, we should index their salaries to some sort of performance measure. Do we really want to enter the world of a full-time Commission with salaries commensurate with that? I don't think so.  They also receive full health coverage.  I also don't buy into the argument that more people would run if the position paid more - that is not the point in running for office.

As for three year terms, the voters have spoken loud and clear multiple times on saying "no" to extending the term beyond the existing two years. Many of the supporters of the dais majority led the effort to defeat that measure. Funny how the world looks when the shoe is on the other foot. Do we really need a more "Imperious" Commission?

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