EDITORIAL: Time to ask about high public pay

There was a time when working for local governments was an underpaid task. Finding people to leave the private sector for government service was difficult.

But then local governments began to load up on benefits — paid insurance and multiple days of leave and vacation — to compensate for the lower pay scale. The argument at that time was the benefits would offset the lower pay and help attract better staff members.

Now, however, those benefits remain and the pay scales have jumped off the charts. If you want to make a good salary today, just go to work for some government agency in a mid to high-level position. The pay and job security is typically much better than you will find in the private sector.

But it’s out of whack. Jobs in the private sector with similar qualifications pale in comparison to what is paid by many local governments.

Of course, everyone in the public sector thinks they are paid what they’re worth, but just because someone thinks that does not make it so.

Too many local governments have become insider games where officials have greased the system to take care of their compensation and the compensation of those around them. The result is inflated salaries being paid for by taxpayers.

The real question here is where are the elected officials who are supposed to police that? Why aren’t they asking these questions?

Go-along elected officials have allowed this to happen. Maybe someday, they’ll grow a backbone and start asking questions about it.