We asked the eight Redding City Council candidates to answer one question a week for nine weeks until the Nov. 4 election. Answers appear word-for-word in the order in which they were received.

QUESTION 3

Should the employment terms of high-ranking city department heads (such as city attorney, city manager, personnel director, economic development director, electric utility director) be FULLY disclosed and posted as public information, including salary, perks, benefits, pension, retirement, bonuses, incentive and disincentive programs, privately negotiated points and/or other supplemental factors? Please be specific about why or why not.

RUSSELL HUNT

All of the details of top managers’ contracts need to be disclosed to the public without exception. The salaries of these positions needs to be cut by 20% to be more in line with the taxpayers’ ability to pay such. Furthermore, top managers need to contribute half of the costs of their pensions and health benefits. I find it criminal that every time a new manager is needed there is a huge salary increase for the position before we have seen the person in action. The income level of Redding residents is relatively modest. But the salaries of the management class in the City of Redding are among the highest in California for positions of the same type. If elected, this is a priority issue for me. All city employees need to pay half of their pensions and at least 25% of their health insurance costs. Furthermore, I propose that employees that have similar positions as those of the county be contracted for through the county. In essence, alike services police, fire, planning, roads, animal control and others, will be contracted for through the county government. These measures will save us at least 30% of the $61 million personnel costs we now incur. If we don’t have the courage to make these adjustments now, they will be made by a judge in bankruptcy court.

MISSY McARTHUR

As an employer, I need to know what I am paying any given employee: daily wages, health care costs, retirement benefits, vacation pay, etc. This determines whether I have enough money in my business to hire another employee, take vacations myself, advertise my business, pay taxes, buy a car, or conversely, tell my spouse to find employment, fire someone, turn the night light off every night, get rid of non-essentials like the employee water tank, and so forth.

Since the public is the employer for the City of Redding employees, they have a right to know what City employees are being paid. The only exception might be if the negotiations for salaries of employees prohibits this information from being disseminated.

As an advocate for transparency in government, I think the more information that is available to be shared with taxpayers, the better. It is time to get rid of the public’s perception of hidden perks, benefits, and extra salaries, such as occurred at the Solid Waste Transfer Station. The City of Redding should be able to withstand the taxpayer’s scrutiny and come through in flying colors; I firmly believe this.

GARY CADD

Taxpayers most certainly have a right to know the full details of what the top level City officials make in salaries, benefits and perks! Transparency in government functions is absolutely essential and this case is no different.

The padding of retirement packages with special bonuses must end because of the long-term costs to taxpayers well after a department head has retired from full time employment with the City. In fact, in these depressed economic times, the creation of “new” high-ranking positions with pricey incentives should also be postponed for the foreseeable future.

I believe most Redding residents would be stunned if they were fully aware of how much of their tax dollars were being spent on top-level management salary and benefit packages. For the most part, the private sector employees are responsible for at least a partial contribution of their own benefits package. Why should the City top-level management be any different?

The Redding city council exists to represent the people of Redding. We must put leaders on the council that can make the tough decisions that are expected of them. Voters will have the opportunity on November 4 to elect leadership that will “Put the People First”.

DICK DICKERSON

Yes, the tax payers have the right to know where and how their money is spent.

All of the information referred to in the question is public and available to anyone upon request, as it should be.

I am not clear as to your meaning of “posted,” the information could be included on the City website.

KEN MURRAY

All terms of employment of high-ranking city department heads are already a matter of public record. Any citizen can access this information by requesting it. Additionally this information is published annually in the Record Searchlight, most recently earlier this month. There are no hidden deals.

JIM McDILDA

The salaries should be fully disclosed to the public. These positions are paid with taxpayer dollars and should be a matter of public record. The salary package should stand up to the red face test. If the City is going to get red faces disclosing what they are paying the high-ranking managers it would be a good indicator that something is wrong and needs correcting. The compensation packages should be based on achievements. The pay scale for the replacement of those officials should be established on a base salary with incentives for accomplishments. The salaries and agreements with previous department leaders should have no bearing on their replacements. This allows the City Council to correct the overly generous salaries and benefits established previously. The City needs to be more realistic with the compensation packages of the high-ranking officials if they expect to deal with labor unions.

Previously:
QUESTION 1
QUESTION 2