Jobs

We got a note from our HR department that the City received a request from the LA Times to publish our names and our salaries.  Great.  I  know that as a civil service employee, that information is public record, but to see it splashed all over the news feels like a violation.  People are going to take one look at what we earn and decide we are all over paid. So, for the fun of it, I googled a job like mine in the corporate world.  I have 27 years- just about- as a Facilities manager, managing seventy-two properties of varying ages and sizes.  I have coordinated large scale re-locations and worked on construction projects.  I have a Bachelor's Degree.  I work with upper management on large scale issues.  Ok.  THAT job in the LA Area pays ( drumroll please) $ 101,000  a year.  That is a LOT more than I am seeing in my pay envelope. I am sure the LA Times will focus on how much we are ripping off the public.  I work pretty hard for my employer, the PEOPLE of the City of Los Angeles.  It's a point of pride to me that my ( see I take ownership here) buildings are open and at the best they can be to serve the public.  The public trashes the buildings on a regular basis.  I don't think anyone would be shocked at the amount of vandalism and graffiti that goes on in a public library.  Staff and the buildings take a daily beating.  But we carry on.  Why?  Because of that one person who needs us, the one person who says "thanks for helping me" It's not the "Big" paycheck, frankly most of us could get more in the private sector.  The benefits are good, I am currently paying 5% toward my medical coverage and the City wants more.  Retirement?  I am paying 11%, the City kicks in 33% ( bet you thought it was MORE , right?) and the REST comes from investments made on my behalf by the mangers of the fund.  I don't HAVE Social Security to fall back on, and if I DID, the City would adjust my retirement to compensate for what I got there.  The myth, which I am sure will be perpetrated in the Times front page opus, that we are all lazy and overpaid, is not the case.  As in any industry, there are people who are not working as they should be, but I don't see them where I am.  Maybe they work for the Mayor. :0)