Overpaid

I would like to get a handle on the proper amount to give people who do work for you. "Anything you want" is not the answer.  Give too little and you'll never hear the end of it.  Be assured, however, that you'll never know when you've given too much.

For example:  How much do you give someone for hauling mulch?  "Friends" are charging "friends" $10 to take them to Henning, 6 miles away, from Wally World.  So I figure that I'm in the ballpark considering ten dollars is only two gallons of gas and they are loading, delivering, and unloading the mulch.  So what is the right amount for tilling an area or digging post holes?  No complaints, so I think I'm meeting their expectations.  Overpaid?  Probably not.

But here's a case where "overpaid" is an understatement.  There's a running saga (which began way before I hit the Big Rip) with the city and the CEO of the power company.  Lawsuits back and forth.  So why did I almost have a stroke when I looked at the paper and saw that the "independent board," charged with overseeing the company's activities, approved a bonus in the neighborhood of .5 million dollars to this man?  Lawd a mercy! To be paid over ten years? For doing his job?

Now, bonuses are routinely given for doing a good job. I have no problem with him receiving a bonus...particularly if I saw a decrease in my electric bill. But $400,304? Pleazzze. He no more negotiated the vaunted contracts than I did. 

If that's not bad enough, this man hired a consultant to evaluate his compensation package.  Who paid for that? The consultant's opinion was that he is not getting paid enough. As a salve, I guess, the "independent" board approved approximately 60% of the recommended bonus.

Now boys and girls, really! This city is not dirt poor but close. Factories are closing or laying off people left and right.  Unemployment in this area tops the state rate.  And three of five people felt that we could afford to pay that kind of money?  For doing his job?

The snake in the woodpile chose not to run for reelection.  I wonder why?  Anything the CEO wanted, this alderman pushed through.  This new resident (well, not so new) suspects that the bonus makes up for the money he sued for and didn't receive.  And the bonus is awarded to him after his divorce became final.  I can't wait to see what surprises are coming from the public works and gas company.  The aldermen overseeing those agencies also chose not to run a second time.

As luck would have it, I had to work at the time of the "independent board" meeting on Friday.  But you know emails were flying to my elected representatives.  And, unless hell freezes over, I will definitely be at the city's board meeting on Monday.

Be Safe. Be Blessed.