Theron Sanders Sr.: Public employees making too much money

Re “County government jobs pay less than local cities” (Page 1A, Dec. 12): Your front-page story says it all. Here in Atwater, the median salary for a city job is 125 percent higher than the median of the private sector. This means a lot of tax dollars are needed to feed this inequity.

As reported in the Sun-Star, 26 of the highest paid city employees are police officers. Between our police chief and the top-paid patrol officer, their total pay and benefits are nearly $500,000. That’s obscene for a low-income town like Atwater.

Make no mistake, our dedicated police must be compensated to reflect the daily danger they face. They are our first line of defense. However, it’s just wrong that one rank-and-file officer is compensated to the tune of $213,338. A U.S. Army private (E3) faces even greater danger in a combat zone, for a base pay of $20,602. Our high-priced city employees enjoy three-day weekends, every week of the year. The divide between the hardscrabble life of many Atwater residence and those in City Hall has never been greater.

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Theron Sanders Sr.: Public employees making too much money."