Pa. mayor cuts police pay to minimum wage

[Carry-a-Kimber]

If the police feel that $7.25 is not enough they can find another source of income. Eventually the city will be forced to either pay an amount that they (the police) are willing to work for or have zero police force. This is called the free price mechanism.
Off Topic: teachers make a pretty good hourly rate.

[Excaliber]

At that rate of pay, it looks like the guys who hang out in Home Depot parking lots
will become LEO's! :-)

SIA

At that pay rate, PA may see many LEO’s quitting to go work at Home Depot

What you will more likely see is officers looking to join other agencies in droves. Other agencies from all over the country will see this as a bonanza opportunity to pick up well trained and experienced officers without having to pay bonuses or incentives and they will come from far and wide to do so. The city will end up with a crippled police agency comprised almost exclusively of those officers no one else wants. Fixing that mess will take several years and lots more money than continuing officers contractual pay rate would have.

Elections have consequences.

[WildBill]

At that rate of pay, it looks like the guys who hang out in Home Depot parking lots
will become LEO's! :-)

SIA

At that pay rate, PA may see many LEO’s quitting to go work at Home Depot

What you will more likely see is officers looking to join other agencies in droves. Other agencies from all over the country will see this as a bonanza opportunity to pick up well trained and experienced officers without having to pay bonuses or incentives and they will come from far and wide to do so. The city will end up with a crippled police agency comprised almost exclusively of those officers no one else wants. Fixing that mess will take several years and lots more money than continuing officers contractual pay rate would have. Elections have consequences.

With third world hiring standards, wages and benefits you get a third world police force rife with dishonesty, bribes and corruption.

[Oldgringo]

Don't they have a union with a contract?

Why do teachers, firemen and LEO's, garbage persons, etc. need a union anymore? Roofers, carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, laborers and electricians, etc. don't have unions. Why do public employees need a union? Just askin...

[Tamie]

Why do teachers, firemen and LEO's, garbage persons, etc. need a union anymore? Roofers, carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, laborers and electricians, etc. don't have unions. Why do public employees need a union? Just askin...

So they don't have to compete in a fair marketplace. Econ 101

[WildBill]

Don't they have a union with a contract?

Why do teachers, firemen and LEO's, garbage persons, etc. need a union anymore? Roofers, carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, laborers and electricians, etc. don't have unions. Why do public employees need a union? Just askin...

Maybe so they don't get their salaries reduced to minimum wage?

[JP171]

Don't they have a union with a contract?

Why do teachers, firemen and LEO's, garbage persons, etc. need a union anymore? Roofers, carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, laborers and electricians, etc. don't have unions. Why do public employees need a union? Just askin...

So that they aren't terminated for lack of productivity like in the non civil service jobs where if you don't produce you find a new job elsewhere. City Employees become for lack of a better term institutionalized and the productivity goes down, since most jobs at state and local gubbermental agencies aren't civil service classified jobs they need a union to keep them employed when they come in to work and go on the morning arrival break, then answer 1 or 2 phone calls then go on pre break preperation break, answer one question then go on regular break then come back and answer one phone call and do 15 mins of computer input then go on pre lunch break come back close the program that they use to input information the go to lunch for 1 1/2 hours then come back for the 30 min power nap, and the cycle continues till the end of the day. as a city employee(state too) there is no impetous to produce anything nor complete anything the union just keeps them there even if someone decides to attempt to make them work

[Excaliber]

Don't they have a union with a contract?

Why do teachers, firemen and LEO's, garbage persons, etc. need a union anymore? Roofers, carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, laborers and electricians, etc. don't have unions. Why do public employees need a union? Just askin...

So that they aren't terminated for lack of productivity like in the non civil service jobs where if you don't produce you find a new job elsewhere. City Employees become for lack of a better term institutionalized and the productivity goes down, since most jobs at state and local gubbermental agencies aren't civil service classified jobs they need a union to keep them employed when they come in to work and go on the morning arrival break, then answer 1 or 2 phone calls then go on pre break preperation break, answer one question then go on regular break then come back and answer one phone call and do 15 mins of computer input then go on pre lunch break come back close the program that they use to input information the go to lunch for 1 1/2 hours then come back for the 30 min power nap, and the cycle continues till the end of the day. as a city employee(state too) there is no impetous to produce anything nor complete anything the union just keeps them there even if someone decides to attempt to make them work

I would encourage you to do a ridealong with a unit of your local law enforcement agency on a Friday night and see how the reality matches up with your current view.

[talltex]

Don't they have a union with a contract?

Why do teachers, firemen and LEO's, garbage persons, etc. need a union anymore? Roofers, carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, laborers and electricians, etc. don't have unions. Why do public employees need a union? Just askin...

Maybe so they don't get their salaries reduced to minimum wage?

The majority of opinions being expressed act like this is something the Mayor just did on a whim...the city does not HAVE the money to pay them...if you ain't got it you can't spend it. That's too bad, and the city will pay a price for past errors that got them in this situation. The Mayor doesn't make that decision alone, but with the entire city council, and I guarantee they would have looked at every possible way to avoid doing it, because they know they are going to take alot of heat from the media and all the residents. The simple fact is they are in the same situation that alot of cities are heading toward...going broke! The municipal bond market in California has been shaky for the last 10 years because of the same situation...declining revenues as property values go down and ever increasing costs for personnel, infrastructure, social services and maintenance. San Bernadino, CA, just declared bankruptcy yesterday, as Stockton,CA had already done prior. An exploding population of low income families with lots of kids puts a tremendous strain on social services, school facilities, health care, and requires more police and fire presence as well as more low income subsidized housing, roads, etc... California is and has been in financial trouble for years and it's not getting better, because the voters who WOULD make drastic cuts are outnumbered now by those who benefit from the current policies. That same scenario could occur all over the southwest over the next decade. I've served on both City Council and the Economic Development Corporation locally, and on the EDC, we always looked at what the costs to the town would be, versus the increase in local payrolls in deciding whether or not to recruit a particular business to locate there. Oftentimes, "growth for growth's sake" is NOT good economically....if a company comes in that provides 100 jobs at minimum wage, it may very well cost the city more in infrastructure costs than the revenue it will bring in sales and property taxes and actually drains money from the city.

[thenick_ttu]

So that they aren't terminated for lack of productivity like in the non civil service jobs where if you don't produce you find a new job elsewhere. City Employees become for lack of a better term institutionalized and the productivity goes down, since most jobs at state and local gubbermental agencies aren't civil service classified jobs they need a union to keep them employed when they come in to work and go on the morning arrival break, then answer 1 or 2 phone calls then go on pre break preperation break, answer one question then go on regular break then come back and answer one phone call and do 15 mins of computer input then go on pre lunch break come back close the program that they use to input information the go to lunch for 1 1/2 hours then come back for the 30 min power nap, and the cycle continues till the end of the day. as a city employee(state too) there is no impetous to produce anything nor complete anything the union just keeps them there even if someone decides to attempt to make them work

Yeah, that sounds EXACTLY like a typical day of work for a teacher. You sure nailed it. Thanks for your input.

[Purplehood]

Don't they have a union with a contract?

Why do teachers, firemen and LEO's, garbage persons, etc. need a union anymore? Roofers, carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, laborers and electricians, etc. don't have unions. Why do public employees need a union? Just askin...

Maybe so they don't get their salaries reduced to minimum wage?

The majority of opinions being expressed act like this is something the Mayor just did on a whim...the city does not HAVE the money to pay them...if you ain't got it you can't spend it. That's too bad, and the city will pay a price for past errors that got them in this situation. The Mayor doesn't make that decision alone, but with the entire city council, and I guarantee they would have looked at every possible way to avoid doing it, because they know they are going to take alot of heat from the media and all the residents. The simple fact is they are in the same situation that alot of cities are heading toward...going broke! The municipal bond market in California has been shaky for the last 10 years because of the same situation...declining revenues as property values go down and ever increasing costs for personnel, infrastructure, social services and maintenance. San Bernadino, CA, just declared bankruptcy yesterday, as Stockton,CA had already done prior. An exploding population of low income families with lots of kids puts a tremendous strain on social services, school facilities, health care, and requires more police and fire presence as well as more low income subsidized housing, roads, etc... California is and has been in financial trouble for years and it's not getting better, because the voters who WOULD make drastic cuts are outnumbered now by those who benefit from the current policies. That same scenario could occur all over the southwest over the next decade. I've served on both City Council and the Economic Development Corporation locally, and on the EDC, we always looked at what the costs to the town would be, versus the increase in local payrolls in deciding whether or not to recruit a particular business to locate there. Oftentimes, "growth for growth's sake" is NOT good economically....if a company comes in that provides 100 jobs at minimum wage, it may very well cost the city more in infrastructure costs than the revenue it will bring in sales and property taxes and actually drains money from the city.

I agree with you in general. At least the Mayor is taking action...unlike many cities (as in CA for example).

Yes, I would be up in arms if I were one of the city employee's that were hit by this, but I understand the reason why.

[WildBill]

Don't they have a union with a contract?

Why do teachers, firemen and LEO's, garbage persons, etc. need a union anymore? Roofers, carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, laborers and electricians, etc. don't have unions. Why do public employees need a union? Just askin...

Maybe so they don't get their salaries reduced to minimum wage?

The majority of opinions being expressed act like this is something the Mayor just did on a whim...

That would not be me. The city didn't get into their current financial crisis overnight. Why is it that people/organizations always wait until they are up to their necks until they do something about it? If the mayor and city council were more proactive, they wouldn't be in the situation where they need to make such drastic decisions.

[talltex]

[/quote]

The majority of opinions being expressed act like this is something the Mayor just did on a whim...[/quote]That would not be me. The city didn't get into their current financial crisis overnight. Why is it that people/organizations always wait until they are up to their necks until they do something about it? If the mayor and city council were more proactive, they wouldn't be in the situation where they need to make such drastic decisions.[/quote]



The problem stems from the same election process that occurs at the state and federal levels too: The people who are willing to tell the voters what they DON'T WANT TO HEAR, are not getting elected. Once a portion of the populace has become accustomed to receiving a particular benefit, anyone who says they will change the status quo is going to stir up a hornets nest of opposition from all those receiving it. To quote George Bernard Shaw..." A government which proposes to rob Peter to pay Paul, can always count on Paul's support." That philosophy is what's caused governmental budgets at all levels to multiply out of control...whether it's a pork barrel appropriation for one state...an increase in one welfare program...a subsidy for a particular industry, or anything else...as long as any individual or group benefiting believes THEY are getting something from everyone else, they are all for it. The budgets keep increasing year after year as each succeeding administrative body seeks to trade tax dollars for votes, until one day they wake up and find themselves in a financial crisis.

[Ol Zeke]

Oh, I don't know .....

http://constitution.org/lrev/roots/cops.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Oldgringo]

Oh, I don't know .....

http://constitution.org/lrev/roots/cops.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pretty interesting read. Does this treatise suggest that our CHL's may be "Batman Licenses" afterall?