El Monte resident Elsie Neilson has this to say about the police chief and assistant cheif salaries. Do you agree or disagree? :

RE: EL MONTE POLICE DEPT. SALARY INCREASES

In view of El Monte’s budget deficit and the Nation’s financial crisis, this is certainly a poor time for the El Monte City Council’s vote to increase the salaries of our Police Chief and Assistant Police Chief to $234,000 and $195,000 respectively. WHAT IS THE COUNCIL THINKING??

If research had been done regarding salaries of Police Chiefs in surrounding cities, they would have found that El Monte salaries are considerably higher, so it is not a matter of having to be competitive, as Mayor Gutierrez says.

Talk about inequities….this is the ultimate slap in the face to the taxpayer who has lost his job and still must pay taxes for what seems to me to be obscene salaries.

Note, for comparison, that the yearly salary of the Vice President of the United States is presently $221,000.

Elsie Neilson