We've long thought Claremont and its city government (elected and appointed officials as well as paid staff) have had a co-dependent relationship. So, the following reader response to our posts the past few days regarding city salaries and benefits seemed to make a lot of sense:
Actually, Jeff Parker makes $187,000 per year in straight salary as he got a raise (on a 3-2 vote) in December 2006 which probably did not take effect until January 2007. If you readers want to get the salaries of all the Claremont employees by name and exact salary but not benefits, they can make a public records request by phone, e-mail or in writing to the city clerk's office and they will be more than happy to assist. I think you will find that Assistant City Manager Tony Ramos is making much more than you have him making.
Also, I would suggest that your readers go to the website of the California First Amendment Coalition , cfac.org , and click on their 2007 Conference being held at USC in October and fill out a form to nominate the Claremont Insider for a Beacon Award (the cfac site explains what that is) and the city of Claremont for a Darkness Award (formerly called the "Black Hole Award" which our #5 best city in the country won in 2000). The deadline for nominations is Sept. 28th. They now have another award called the Bill Farr award after a L.A. Times reporter who went to jail rather than reveal his sources. Take a look at the CFAC website and make your voices heard. Thank you to the Claremont Insider for an excellent use of public documents.
Just when you thought the City of Claremont was reforming itself and recovering from its dependence on secrecy and subterfuge, they fall off the wagon. Addictions ARE hard to overcome. Maybe there should be a Betty Ford -type clinic for this, and with the generous benefits that we seem to be giving our employees, especially the management staff, they could well afford to pay for the rehab.
Come to think of it, an intervention might do this town a lot of good.
Posts
