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Even Public Television is Going After L.A. City Councilmembers' High Salaries
The Emmy award winning SoCal Connected, which airs Thursday nights on KCET, produced this web video that was posted on Wednesday. Good points all around, but it should be noted some City Councilmembers have taken a cut in their paycheck (though some would say the cuts are merely symbolic). Other points made in the the supporting text of the video, include these two poignant ones:
- "Taken as a group, they employ a staff of about 320. For comparison, the White House staff is about 480."
- "though the council has raised parking meter fees along streets throughout the city, council members are exempt. They can park without fear of being ticketed at any metered spot and freely walk away without slipping coins (or a credit card) into the meter."
It's true that City Council needs a large staff, but that's only because the departments, at the direction at the Mayor, are a big hot mess. If departments weren't such the bureaucratic clusterfuck, City Councilmembers wouldn't need so many staff members to help constituents weed through the bullshit. In essence, the bloated staffs are a product of a years and years of bad government. That doesn't mean councilmembers should have a get out of jail card free on this one because they need to address this issue head-on. Perhaps, however, thousands of layoffs will focus leaner departments to work smarter and more efficiently. Or, perhaps, it will be complete failure.
On the issue of free parking, it's true, but it might take TMZ-style paparazzi to bring the issue to light, such as they did with First Lady Maria Shriver and her hubby, the Governor.
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