Call A Cop

Reports are indicating a shortage of badge-wielders in the North Atlanta suburbs (it doesn't matter what they say to get their hands on grant money, Dunwoody is a suburb) and Dunwoody is in direct competition with some, well, shall we say, better managed  cities. The irony of The Smart City being out-smarted is lost on few and surprises no one.

Explanations and excuses abound but as is governments' wont it becomes just another excuse to raise taxes. As you're probably aware Dunwoody has never seen a year without a tax increase and has recently rubbed salt with a millage increase justified by, you guessed it, police un-de-funding. While some funds are directed towards salary increases (for the entire army of bureaucrats) they did not do the right thing: dedicate all revenue garnered by this millage increase towards PD spending. Even if they did they would simply claw back any, perhaps all, of the revenue currently supporting public safety. 

Earlier this year Billy-Bob Grogan trotted on-trend accusations against the de-fund the police movement and there is some merit to that. But he's also revealed what is likely the primary reason: they are leaving for other jobs, other careers. And why wouldn't they? Billy-Bob, with the unwavering support of his boss, has created a toxic work environment, a captive porno den that would make Larry Flynt jealous. The kind of work environment that spawns award-winning whistle-blowers. 

Honestly, the problem is not difficult unless you make it unnecessarily so with lack of honesty. The city should have asked and answered, directly, completely and truthfully, a very simple question: what problem are you trying to solve? If the problem is under achievement of the primary commitment made when the city was formed, public safety, then more money may be in order. Determine exactly what that number is and figure where to get that money. The next step is to calculate, in the current budget, how many mils are dedicated to public safety. That number is the baseline and any further millage increase would be added to that to bring public safety spending to the level necessary to meet the original commitment. Obviously an enhancement would be to cut the enormous fat from the bloated bureaucracy, freeing funds for rank and file members of the police force because they really should be paid a living wage.

Will work for benefits

The Economic Policy Institute likes to portray itself as the voice of the downtrodden at least on economic matters. This translates into pay. Apparently not compensation. In taking up for Teachers, a drum they've beaten for over a decade, they say:

Not accounting for benefits, teachers across the country earn less than other college graduates...

In the real world most folks account for benefits. There's a growing number who will damn near work for benefits. And they're just talking about healthcare.

Don't teachers get healthcare benefits? Sure they do. They also have had, and in some cases taken advantage of, abandoning Social Security for retirement options they themselves decided were superior. And these are not village idiots, as EPI like to tell us, over and over and over again, these are highly educated folk.

Even if you adjust a nine-month contract for full year equivalency it is very difficult to account for the size and expanse of holiday breaks and other time off afforded teachers. And dare we delve into tenure and the requisite "lemon rooms?" We dare not.

And EPI likes to talk about similar amounts of education as if a righteous system would reward diploma holders based on the amount of time require to get the sheep skinned. Really? Do they know that a PhD in Mathematics requires more time than a JD? Who do you think drags down the biggest bucks? The Math Prof or the Lawyer? And do they think a four year Chemical Engineering degree is as easy to secure as a four year degree in "English-Education?" Perhaps so. Perhaps they don't have a lot of folks on staff holding a degree in engineering. Why? Perhaps engineers aren't suited to their work.

Which brings us to the final point. Any teacher thinking their Art-Education degree is worth as much as that degree in Petroleum Engineering should sell it on the open market. After all every college degree requiring four years to get are pretty much the same, right?

Hop Scotch

For a City like Dunwoody the Manager's position is a stepping stone, a way stay on a trajectory towards bigger (budgets) and better (seats on boards). We are not likely to change this so we need to accept it and act accordingly.

When a position is transient, as this one is, the larger organization needs to understand that in the first half of a given tenure the person holding the position is very likely to align their actions with the best interests of the organization. Toward the second half these ambitious individuals will begin to act in what they perceive as the best interests of their next position which will open a gap between what is best for the job at hand and what is best for the aspirant to get another job.

This behaviour is not unusual but it is another reason why structural changes must be made in our compensation system. No one who has been paying attention to the goings on at City Hall should be surprised that our City Manager is moving on to another city and a seat on Chatcomm's board but they might want to reflect on some of the statements made about, and handling of, the CAD-to-CAD epic fail in which Chatcomm played a significant role. We were seeing second half behaviour and getting second string performance.

Let's not make that mistake again.