Inside UDJ by Editor K.C. Meadows

My husband is employed by the city of Ukiah and i personally fill it would be an invasion of our privacy to have his wages posted in the paper with his name. It is one thing to list job titles and wages but putting an employee name with it is rediculous. We have both been grown up in this town and are raising our children her and do not feel that it needs to be public knowledge of what we live on every month.

I believe it would be unfair to County employees to post this information. What? - Isn't it good enough to just have the job position next to the salary? I can guarantee that KC Meadows will have a large number of cancellations to the Ukiah Daily Journal if this information is published. It is an invasion of privacy, and I don't think KC Meadows would put her name and salary out to the public published in the Ukiah Daily Journal now would she? I think Ms. Meadows needs to think of kharma.

I feel it is an invasion of the employees privacy. I can understand listing the job titles by department and the salary but why do you need to put every employees name. I know if it happened to me I would not like it. Just because they are employed with the county does not mean they are not entitled to financial privacy. Do you want everyone to know what you live on each month? It is no one's business. I can understand then need for knowing where our tax dollars are going but you really don't need to list each persons name.

My friend works for the county. She is a single mom who barely survives. If her salary is listed in the paper for everyone to see it will be a huge embarrassment to her and her son. How do you think a child will feel for all his friends to know his mom does not have much money. I don't see a reason for the names to be listed, a listing of each employee title and the amount is sufficient. Why do you need to list the names, what is the purpose? Would you want you name and how much you make listed in the paper for everyone to see? Everyone has a right to privacy, especially how much they make.

I think that employees' names should NOT be posted next to their salary. This is so an invasion of privacy. What the public is going to see is the gross amount - before all the Governmental taxes, before all the social security, before all the retirement, and especially the health insurance (which by the way just increased 73%). The County's gross pay is a whole lot different than the net pay. What the public is going to see is not even close to what County employees actually get. Most of what County employees make goes back into the system (retirement/social security/governmental taxes/medicare)And most of everybody who would be reading the information, that KC Meadows is wanting to publish in the paper, is not going to realize that County employees take home very little pay after all the deductions are subtracted from their pay. This is what the public needs to know! Everyone is going to see this dollar amount next to an employee's name and think this is what County employees are bringing home - yeah what a joke! If anything, County employees need a raise to cover all the deductions that they are stuck paying back into the system. Not everybody else in this County who works has as much deductions taken from their check as County employees do. I feel that posting employees' names next to their salary is identity theft. I can honestly say that many County employees, their friends, and families will be canceling their subscriptions to the UDJ if this info is published - Does the UDJ have no morals? The UDJ will have a bad reputation and name if County employees' names are posted next to their salary. MS. MEADOWS - YOU NEED TO THINK TWICE ABOUT THIS!!

KC Meadows sounds bored to me. Let's take it a step further. How about background checks? I think including ethnic origin, race and sexual orientation should be fair game too. Why should county employees have any right to privacy? After all, they just serve the public, work long hours in understaffed agencies to better the community. In this age of reality TV and information, media leeches will reach out and hurt good people doing good work, just for the pleasure of getting some publicity or maybe some hits on their website. And for what? Tel me, KC, why is this important? KC Meadows must be bored. I know I am from reading her blog. Expect lawsuits.

I believe the public has a right to know where their money is going. While working for the City of Ukiah, before I retired, I was involved for 13 years, with bargaining for wages and benefits for the field/office employees. There is a huge inequity between the City manager/department heads and field/office staff. I feel the public should be aware of this, however I don't believe it is necessary to publish the names with job titles. I believe the job titles, wages (whether salaried or hourly), all benefits(also insurance premiums & what the employee pays), overtime (and whether required to be on call) would be appropriate. There is also an inequity in living requirements that are incorperated into the job descriptions. Field employees are required to live within a specific distance (such as 15 min.) while office employees can live in another city or even county. This information should also be included, if allowed.
A comparison between job titles with other cities of comparable size would also help readers to understand that City field/office employees are being paid less in comparison to other cities of the same relative size, while the gap between management and field/office continues to widen. Certain departments also seem to be shown favoritism while bargaining,while others are given the left-overs.
For readers to understand this, a breakdown of wage/benefit packages over a number of years would also be helpful.

I would be interested in comparing Sonoma County and Lake County to Mendocino County. It would be helpful if you list the salaries of Sonoma County & Lake County employees next to the listing of Mendocino County employees for comparison.

I'm a public employee whose wage may be published.

I'm all for the FOIA. I wanted to point out, however, that money to pay me is coming out of *my* pocket, too. I am a tax-payer and a citizen the same as any other. I hope that I'm not treated as any less than a full citizen or less worthy of privacy because I work for a government agency. I've wondered at that at times. I don't think this is an "us" and "them" kind of thing. I'm an "us", too.

Secondly, the problem I see with publishing salaries is that inequities are often in the eye of the beholder. Once, flying to a conference, I was told by an engineer that he couldn't believe that I needed the education I had to do what I did. I once had another professional gentleman tell me he wanted my job and was shocked and unbelieving that I had to have certain educational certifications to hold it. Both of these people did not actually know what I did, just what was visible to the public.

All of this is understandable because I don't think many of us truly understand a job we haven't held and know little of. Perhaps the greater problem is that we may think we know what someone does and therefore feel qualified to evaluate their salary, even their value when an effective, fair assessment requires more data than the UKJ will present.

Workers, even government ones, are worthy of their hire. I'd hate to see the public taking potshots at employees who *I* know personally work off the clock and on nights and weekends to get their jobs done. This is something that will never be shown by a listing of employees and their gross salaries.

The public does have the right to know where their tax dollars go and they have the freedom to judge that usage as well. I just think publishing this information might distort even more than it clarifies and enlightens.

FWIW.