Community Commentary:

I never thought that ignoring them would make them go away, but I did hope they would shut up for a while. Am I the only one who has grown tired of the same, continuous rants of Mike Mohill and Herbert Molano? Isn’t there someone in this community with a nice story about cats to submit to the Glendale News-Press? I am certain it would be more illuminating and, unfortunately for us, a greater public service.

I am amazed how those critical of government can be so quick to abandon free-market principals. The idea that someone can dictate the worth or value of someone’s labor on the basis of “Gosh, that seems like a lot of money to me” is lunacy — downright un-American.

Cities compete with the private sector for talent, and good people don’t work for free. They also compete with other cities who are very quick to snap up employees in whom we have made considerable investments. If Mohill and Molano really want to do something constructive, they should camp out in front of the Beverly Hills Council Chambers and tell them not to steal more of our librarians and stop charming our firefighters.

The free market is brutal sometimes and needs an occasional regulatory thump, but we must be careful when we smack the invisible hand that feeds us. The economic downturn will naturally depress wages over time. It’s the way the system works as employees are laid off and more qualified personnel from other cities start looking. They will not go down because an unqualified, self-appointed government “expert” says so.

The reality is that the commentary and “research” conducted in the cause of reining in excessive salaries have made constructive debate impossible. I have never seen a year-to-year salary comparison adjusted for inflation, nor has there been an accessory analysis about geographical adjustments.

The only goal in selling the outrage of inflated salaries has been to inflate the numbers as much as possible and make them look believable.

Private sector employees never see the true cost of their employment and including pension contributions, employer taxes and benefits in these infamous $100,000-club members under the guise of full disclosure serves only one purpose: to piss people off. Anyone can tweak the numbers to prove a political point, or to muddle one.

The tragedy is that we really do need to look at pension obligations, benefit packages and competitive salaries in order to provide viable public services in tough economic times, and a debate dominated by misinformation and inflated rhetoric makes these discussions impossible. In their effort to inspire change, they have made it nearly impossible.

Thanks for that.

I know that I have opened a can of worms and will likely be the new target of Molano’s wrath. It is familiar territory. My 3-year-old toddler has to get the last word, too.

There are occasions where we should be thankful for watchdogs who provide their services free of charge, but we should always be mindful of another axiom commonly understood in the private sector: Advice is always worth what you pay for it.

 MICHAEL TEAHAN is a Glendale resident.