{"id":25500,"date":"2014-11-09T17:39:31","date_gmt":"2014-11-09T22:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brigantinenow.com\/?p=25500"},"modified":"2018-09-10T05:31:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T09:31:01","slug":"brigantine-state-unions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brigantinenow.com\/brigantine-state-unions\/","title":{"rendered":"Brigantine. The State of the Union$."},"content":{"rendered":"

The votes have been cast and the results are in. Congratulations to the Republican ticket for a successful campaign and a clean sweep, in what turned out to be a tight race. With the election over, the focus can now turn from political rhetoric to legitimate concerns. If, as the GOP\u2019s ads claimed, the former Democratic majority has been causing all of Brigantine\u2019s woes, we will no doubt shortly see decisive action on the many real issues facing island taxpayers.<\/p>\n

One of the more eye-catching situations on the horizon is the concern some taxpayers have with the union contracts of a variety of city employees. The two most cited examples are the Police and Fire Departments.<\/p>\n

\"Brigantine
Brigantine Firefighters with Councilman Simpson & Mayor Guenther<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before embarking on this discussion, I feel it is necessary to point out the elephant in the room. We all know that it is a touchy subject to speak critically in any way of anything involving police officers or firemen. Even to broach this topic at all is usually to invite an angry and hostile response, at times from the city employees themselves, some of whom seem to patrol the internet looking for a fight. With all that in mind, nothing here should be taken as an attack on the worth of the police or firemen. They do a job that is sometimes life-threatening and deserve our respect and admiration. They also deserve to be fairly compensated for taking on such a great responsibility.<\/p>\n

One cannot even fairly find fault with the police and firemen themselves for seeking as high a wage as they can negotiate. <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Having spent a career as a union member, I have complete empathy with any worker attempting to attain as high a standard of living as possible. Who are any of us to tell them they make too much money? They negotiated for it, it was agreed to by both parties; of course they would react negatively to any criticism or questions regarding their deal. That\u2019s only natural.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It may be tempting to point out that some Brigantine firemen and police officers make more than some doctors, but that would be to begrudge them their due. If someone was willing to pay them a million dollars a year to be a fireman or cop, they\u2019d be fools not to take it.<\/p>\n

No, the fault for the position the island finds itself in does not lie with the city employees themselves.<\/strong> The responsibility for allowing this situation to reach such a state lands firmly in the lap of the city government.<\/p>\n

The city can be considered in terms analogous to a corporation. In the city, the Mayor and City Council can be compared to a corporation\u2019s CEO and Board of Directors. They are directly responsible to the shareholders, who would of course be the taxpayers. Now, obviously the corporate goal is profit while the goal of government is, or should be, the good of those they represent, so there is some difference. But not as much as one might think.<\/p>\n

To continue the corporate analogy: As in a corporation, in which all other considerations take a back seat to pleasing the shareholders and maximizing profit, the city government has an irrefutable responsibility to negotiate the best deals for the taxpayers and minimize costs. That means paying the market value for services. Right now, Brigantine is paying much more than similar towns for equivalent services.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Purely from a taxpayer perspective, it is lunacy to pay such inflated costs for comparable services, particularly in a town where only 3,700 votes were cast in the mayoral election. The population and need for services simply does not justify such a large amount of highly paid municipal employees. Any CEO and Board of Directors of any corporation who agreed to such a lopsided deal would be out on the street faster than last week\u2019s garbage. Not in Brigantine, though.<\/p>\n

In Brigantine, city jobs are not just employment opportunities, they are rewards. These rewards are reserved for the friends, relatives and longtime supporters of the people who run the island. When looked at from that perspective, perhaps it makes a bit more sense that the city did not drive as hard a bargain as it could have when it came to staffing and pay scales. Smaller staffs mean less available political handouts, and more reasonable pay lessens the value of the reward.<\/p>\n

See Report: NJ Waste and Abuse in\u00a0Local Government Employee\u00a0Compensation and Benefits<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

One can understand the sentiment with which this topic is usually greeted. These are, after all, our heroes. They helped us when we needed them. Nothing should be too good for them. A common reply to any criticism of the overstaffing or high salaries is the knee-jerk response of some sentimental residents to pile guilt on the perceived attacker. \u201cDoes it matter how much they make when they\u2019re saving you?<\/em>\u201d The answer to that question is, of course, no. It certainly SHOULDN\u2019T matter. As dedicated professionals, I\u2019d expect that they would provide the same level of diligence and service whether or not they were receiving a six figure salary. In most towns, people join the Police or Fire Departments to be of service, not to get rich.<\/p>\n

\"Brigantine
Philadelphia Firefighters Salary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once again, nobody can reasonably blame the city employees for seeking the best deal they can get. If they were employed in the private sector, where compensation is usually commensurate with profitability, most people would say \u201cMore power to them!<\/em>\u201d However, they are not employed in the private sector. Their pay does not derive from profits they generate. Their pay comes right out of the pocket of the taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Just as the city employees have every right to negotiate the best deal they can get, the taxpayers also have the right to do a little comparison shopping. And the city government is unquestionably obligated to do so.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The police, firemen and all city employees deserve a fair wage for the vital services they provide. Those negotiations are the responsibility of their respective unions, and obviously, they did their job well. The responsibility of the city is to the taxpayers, and the taxpayers want to know why they are paying so much more than everyone else.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Patrick Costello is the author of the Brigantine best selling book:\u00a0\u2018Greenhead Politics. The Story Brigantine Taxpayers Were Never Told\u2019.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The votes have been cast and the results are in. Congratulations to the Republican ticket for a successful campaign and a clean sweep, in what turned out to be a tight race. With the election over, the focus can now turn from political rhetoric to legitimate concerns. If, as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":25511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[306,149,31],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nBrigantine. 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Congratulations to the Republican ticket for a successful campaign and a clean sweep, in what turned out to be a tight race. With the election over, the focus can now turn from political rhetoric to legitimate concerns. 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