Government jobs the way to go?
This week's leftovers.....
We've probably all had a similar version of the "career talk" with our parents at some point in our lives: If you want to be successful and wealthy, be a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer.
Well, there's one more career path parents should add to the list: government jobs.
Excellent retirement and health benefits, job security and a shortened work week are just some of the advantages of government employment.
No industry is immune from failing in a sinking economy, but a Time magazine article released last week declared government-related jobs -- particularly those in education and public safety -- recession-proof.
Take El Monte's city attorney Clarke Mosely. Despite the city's $400,000 budget deficit, he still manages to pull in a base salary of $13,210 a month, plus health and retirement benefits that total $2,462 a month. And any time the chief of police gets a salary bump, so does the city attorney, according to Mosely's contract.
His hours grant him enough time to work for the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, and he even gets Fridays off.
The four-day work week is an increasingly common trend among San Gabriel Valley cities. West Covina is the one of the most recent cities to shift to four 10-hour work days.
Another great perk is the notion of job security. While private companies across the nation are laying off workers by the thousands, the San Gabriel Valley has yet to see a city lay off any full-time employees.
According to Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, government employees -- unlike those in the private sector -- often hold the perspective that job security is 100 percent.
"Anything that suggests that someone may be let go is assumed to infringe on some fundamental right, but of course that is just because they are looking at it from a government employee's perspective," Scheer said.
Even in retirement, government employees still are reaping the benefits of a career in public service. Retirement packages usually include health benefits for life and a steady income. In some cases, public employees have ended up making more in their retirement than they did while working.
It's no wonder nearly half of all people in the public sector take advantage of their retirement options, compared to only a quarter of people in private agencies, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute
Of course, not everything is rosy working for city government. There have been hiring freezes and part-time employees have lost their jobs. There are complaints from residents. There are budget problems. And every now and then, you get a city like Vallejo that has to file for bankruptcy.
Regardless, cities provide necessary services that force them to stay open for business. If you want to convert your garage into a bedroom, you have to go through the city. If you are retired and depend on lunches from the senior center, the city runs that program. And your trash isn't going to pile up on the side of the road just because the city can't afford its hauling contract anymore.
So, if the saying is true and you can't beat City Hall, you may as well join it.
Comments anyone?
Who negotiated Mosely's contract? If he is so highly paid, shouldn't he be really good? Why does the city constantly have to contract out for legal services?
All City's (even those with large in-house legal staff e.g. Burbank, LA, Pasadena) routinely contract-out certain litigation where specialized expertise is needed. And I think you'll find that the number of cases contracted out has shrunk dramatically and consistently over the last several years. But that would be FACT and you don't deal in fact just hearsay and slander.
Lets not forget the fact that many public sector employees work for much less than their private sector counterparts. If you are concerned about money, you do not end up in the public sector.
By the way, working a 4/10 shift is not a way for city employees to be lazy - 7am to 6pm Monday through Thursday still adds up to a full week, not to mention that people will still work on off Fridays when city hall is closed (some cities do stay open on Fridays by working skeleton crews two days a week to say open when their employees are on 4/10's). With a 4/10 You open earlier and stay open later so that people with 9 to 5 schedules can still take care of their business at city hall. Also, despite what readers of the Tribune are led to believe - public sector employees do work uncompensated overtime, weekends, and also attend boards, comissions and community meetings on their own time after regular working hours. I have worked in the private sector and the public sector - and I think that the public sector is more challenging and more rewarding. I took a 45% pay cut to enter the public sector, and I am happy I did because I now spend my days improving a community - not just working to make a profit. That is where the true value of the public sector is, not that the Tribune recognizes that.
Clarke Mosely's salary and benefits are linked to the chief of police. Clarke Mosely prepared the employment agreement (city council agenda of Sept 16, 2008). Did Clarke Mosely negotiate the terms of the agreement? The more money the Chief of Police makes the more money Clarke Mosely makes. What is wrong with this picture? If Mosely is involved with the negotiation process, is this a conflict of interest?