The High Cost Of City Government

Coming across this item over at The Other McCain was rather eye-opening.
It appears that there is a gold mine to be had if one is a city manager in any one of the 34 cities in Orange County, California.
Now Orange County is still one of the last bastions of conservative Republicans in California. But even this area of California has, well gone off the rails more than once.
In 1994, Orange County declared bankruptcy as the county treasurer, Robert Citron, a Democrat, made some, oh I will say questionable decisions that had to be mopped up. It did not help that Mr. Citron was using psychics and astrologers to help guide his investment "strategy".
Corruption is no different in the OC than anywhere else, unfortunately.
But there is this rather shameful fact. That a dozen city managers are members of the 300K club. That salaries and benefits are at or above $300,000 a year.
In three of the top five cities, three of them are Democrat strongholds.
That would be Anaheim, Buena Park and Santa Ana.
Follow this chart and you will see the compensation broken down to annual salary and benefits, separated.
Oh, but to make it easy, the big three Democrat areas city managers make totals as follows.
Anaheim: $338,428
Buena Park: $337,351
Santa Ana: $344,989
And to make your blood boil even more, the average salary, including benefit package in Orange County cities is $281,699.
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
As The Other McCain pointed out, a city manager in Orange County, California makes more than a United States senator. More than the defense secretary. More than the FBI director.
This is on the heels of the city of Bell compensation scandal that has all but bankrupted the lower middle-class city in the outskirts of Los Angeles.
Oh yeah. Not surprising that all involved are. . .wait for it. . .D E M O C R A T S!
What is happening is clear.
Being a high-level government bureaucrat has become a way too profitable endeavor that many cities just can not afford.
I know that the argument is that cities need to fork out this kind of money to get good people. But really, is being a city manager more important than other positions in government? Do the citizenry need to make these people in the upper-middle class because they run a city day-to-day?
No to all of the above.
It is a huge part of the problem that big government at all levels lead to such things.
People are outraged at what many in the private sector make. Actors. Athletes. Entertainers. Business executives.
But the difference is that one does not have to go to a movie. A sporting event. A certain store. The list goes on.
But if one lives in any one of the 34 cities in Orange County, must they be held hostage compensating people a boatload of money when they are having trouble paying the cops and firemen?
The irony is that one of those making a boatload is the city manager of Anaheim. The home to Disneyland. It is as if this city manager made it to a Magic Kingdom of cash. At the expense of the taxpayer.
I guess being a city manager in Orange County is a million-dollar proposition.
No wonder we are going broke.