Local paper pins the stupid meter!

I think it's fair to say that the editorial position of the Dunkirk Observer regarding public employees is that they are a whining bunch of overpaid, underworked spoiled brats who have no concept of the real world and should be thankful that they can feed so greedily at the public trough. And that's on a benevolent day.

And then I came upon the "Publisher's notebook" for January 6, 2012 containing the following gem:

"If you happen to believe public-sector salaries are comparable to what is earned in the private sector, consider how you manage your household. There, many of us are attempting to reduce our costs. Residents will pay a teenager $15 to mow their lawn or $10 to shovel their walk. So why would we pay public-workers salaries that top $50,000 - not including the pensions, days off and benefits - for those doing the same job on a larger scale?"

During the past month, I celebrated my 68th birthday. In thinking back over everything I have heard during the past 68 years, I do not recall any statement even approaching this level of stupidity.

Now I have great respect for the snow fighting ability of teenagers. My wife and I flew back to Buffalo several years ago right after a snowstorm of historic proportions. Our first hint of trouble was the group of teenagers armed with snow shovels sitting in the front of the SunPark shuttle taking us to the parking area across from the airport.

When we reached SunPark we were among the lucky ones who could identify our car by the top of the radio antenna as cars were completely buried by the storm. The teens were digging out cars for tips, and they made a bundle that day!

Still, I have difficulty imagining Chautauqua County's roads being cleared at 4 AM during a raging storm by a phalanx of teenagers armed with shovels working for tips. First of all, how would they get to the roads that needed clearing? Would they need to shovel their way to route 60 from their homes? Perhaps all able-bodied teens would be required to spend the night at the fairgrounds whenever a storm was predicted. 

Amazingly, no reader who commented online concerning this idea thought it was a good one. Here are three comments:

"Would you please publish the names of young $10 snow shovelers? I have been on Route 88 in the middle of a snow storm and if your shovelers are available will they shovel this driveway? Oh yes, sometimes they have to be ready to do it from Midnight to 7am, alone, in the hills and valleys of the region."

"By the way, do you also think high school kids could run this paper? After all, they do have to write papers for school. If they dont know something, many just make it up. Seems like they would be perfect for the job."

"Are you seriously comparing public sector employees, who operate heavy, complicated equipment and deal with many chemicals, among other things, with neighborhood kids who mow lawns and shovel sidewalks?"

By clicking here, you can read the Publisher's notebook in its entirety. The writer was once again making the argument that our region is in tough shape partly because of the ridiculously high labor costs in the public sector. This argument appears to accepted fact--like those "death panels" we were warned about last year--because it is repeated again and again. Is it factual? No one seems to present the facts to back it up. It's just something that "everyone knows."

Well, a slightly larger newspaper, USAToday, recently ran a series of articles concerning this topic. Their work includes some actual numbers which are quite interesting when examined. That's the subject of the next post.