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wweek.com readers speak on… “What mayoral staffers make” Aug. 6, 2010

Public outcry over the $800,000 paid to the city manager in tiny Bell, Calif., is prompting greater scrutiny of city employees’ wages across the country.

"What I want to know is, why are bureaus paying for the mayor's staff? He has his own budget, but I guess he would rather raid the bureaus than include the positions in his own budget, where he would have to justify them.

I bet the bureau-funded employees would accomplish a lot more for the citizens of Portland working in their own bureaus than they do working in the mayor's office." —Palo

"I'm laughing at all of you. You should really pull up a list of what Congressional staffers get paid. You might actually poop yourselves…and I can actually assure you the staff in our mayor's office does actual work, while the staffers of our dear congressional representatives have some pretty swell happy hours. I've attended a few and had a lot of fun.

Lets have some truth. $50K is what you need to get paid to buy your own house. Way back when, my dad was able to buy a house making $20K or $30K and support my mom who raised me without working. My parents weren't exactly scrimping for scraps in the 1980s. So the mayor's staff gets paid enough to own their own homes.…; So it's really a no-win situation. They get paid $50 or $60K because that's the going rate and you hate them for it?….

Why don't you get off and complain about certain major corporations in the city that are reaping gigantic profits but using the state of the economy as an excuse not to not give anyone raises?" —In the Air

"'You should really pull up a list of what Congressional staffers get paid.'

Why? This isn't the federal government, it's the local government. It has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

'So the mayors staff gets paid enough to own their own homes. Would you have them working for the mayor and living in crappy apartments?'

The purpose of local government is not to ensure that everyone gets enough money to "buy their own house." If you think it is, you're delusional.

'They get paid $50 or $60K because that's the going rate and you hate them for it?'

There is no "going rate" for these jobs, because they were largely invented by Adams to serve his own ego and pet agendas….

We're all laughing at YOU, 'In the Air.' Keep defending what's clearly of great personal interest to you. It's been clear what's 'in the air' at your house, and it smells like delusion." —In Your Mom's Air

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