I thought by now someone, pro or con, would have commented on Sunday's piece about how much our mayor should make. ("How much should your mayor make?," Nov. 14)
Guess I'll run with the ball. I'll note coincidently that the piece ran the month our property taxes are due.
The mayor makes too much in my opinion. This group of business leaders attempts to mesh business practices with administration of good government.Two entirely different and separate functions. The first operates under the profit purpose; the second under the service motive.
Let's start with the "demands and complexities" of the job. This good group of four (I do 'business' with two of them) did not define what this phrase entails. This criterion certainly hasn't changed over the past 12 years.
To place an extra value and require higher compensation due to a position being "demanding and highly scrutinized" is a leap right from Wall Street or Washington. "I'm going to go into elective office and no one is going to watch what I do!" Give me a break.
The essential and required services and products from city government are not rocket science. These services are being performed, and have been performed for years, across the country.
Getting "high-caliber" candidates is also an interesting goal. This area was also left undefined. How is this determined? Are we to require IQ tests? Aptitude scores? Education degrees? Experience? I'll admit this is probably easier than my goal which would be to get smarter voters (maybe not necessarily in Ogden but certainly the country based on current crop serving back at Disneyland D.C.).
This country for centuries has tried to figure out who's the best for elective offices (and some high appointed ones). Are business men better than lawyers? Are military men better than educators? Are athletes better than priests? Are doctors better than politicians? Are economists better than history professors?
My point here is I'll take common sense over education any day. I'll go with integrity and honesty over selfishness and special interests every election (if I have the choice). I also believe strongly that elective office should always be a temporary job, not a profession. Based on the condition of the country, there's too much political and not enough science in the way we operate our government(s).
If the four really believe this increase will improve Ogden, they also should have explained how that relates to the mayor's supervising some 33 people (will guess one of the 34 works for the city council) that make more money than him. If the amount of money relates to performance, I really want to understand this phenomenon.
Last, whether the mayor is a hands-on administrator or not, lets pretend that the next election has a candidate with a Ph.D. and an IQ of 191, ran a Fortune 500 company, successfully oversaw the 2010 Olympics, and had 10 years experience inside the beltway. The other candidate is "Sara" Palin.
Who do you think would win the election?
Thompson lives in Ogden.
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