Editor:
There have been several recent letters related to grossly overpaid city employees, including the city manager, administrators, attorneys, police and firefighters. I concur that these Bell-like salaries, overtime payouts and benefits are obscene.
Unfortunately, no one has raised one extremely important point, that these outrageous salaries will form the base amount of what these city employees will receive for the rest of their lives when they retire — along with the other golden parachute-like benefits they will receive, which taxpayers will be obligated to pay.
The only people who appear to support and defend the indecent salaries and benefits are those who are paid them, like City Manager Rod Gould, and Sky Lambert, a Santa Monica Police officer who, unlike Gould, failed to identify himself as such while defending these scandalous overpayments.
In other words, what a scam being perpetuated by public employees on us taxpayers.
Virginia Isaacs
Santa Monica
Santa Monica is a corrupt staff and developer run city. City staff do all they can to support gross over-development and growth not for the good of the residence but to fund outrageous salaries paid to them. And developer money funds and controls Santa Monica City Council. Follow the money….
Ms, Isaacs, you should at least make an attempt to educate yourself on a subject before you prove in public how much you don’t know.. OVERTIME, which is the bulk of the gross income highlighted here, IS NOT figured as a base amount or any other part of retirement.