Is Peduto is status quo after one month? (McDonald, Republic: 2014, safety)

[pghdude28]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Pittsburgh's city government is under economic distress, Act 47. Raising the salary for the police chief might not mean that much, but this would lead to increased pension costs, pressure for increased salaries for commanders, captains, others lower on the food chain.

Fiscal sensibility and living within the government's means is what's called for here- not just paying someone more because Buffalo does.

I do agree with this... I know it's shocking I'm not in total agreement with Zman . A higher salary for the police chief could be done if it's made up by cutting other salaries or positions elsewhere in the budget. Or eliminating waste. We have a level we need to stay under.

[zman63]

Originally Posted by pghdude28

I do agree with this... I know it's shocking I'm not in total agreement with Zman . A higher salary for the police chief could be done if it's made up by cutting other salaries or positions elsewhere in the budget. Or eliminating waste. We have a level we need to stay under.

And most people accuse us of being the same person. I guess most of the cheerleaders on this board are delusional and think that only one person, "troll" as they call it, with multiple screen names posting unbiased opinions. They find it hard to believe there can be more than one person skeptical of what pittsburgh is selling.

I believe hiring this guy that owes back taxes is a huge misstep by the Peduto administration. IMO there is no way to spin this in a positive manner. It has only been a month though. I want to see where he is by mid summer.

There are a lot of positions they could cut in the budget to streamline. I just think you are not going to get an "eliot ness" type of public safety director when you are the lowest paying out of your peer cities. It is a huge mess for somebody to clear up with the police department as well as dealing with the old attitude of the fire union. Where is the incentive for the best and the brightest to take that job? I think there is more waste because the salaries are so low and these directors, chiefs and supervisors do not care. They are not paid enough to care.

In the end I believe you get what you pay for. You will get Barney Fife as police chief and not eliot ness. But a higher salary will mean a higher pension. It will add to the long term pension costs

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by zman63

. Where is the incentive for the best and the brightest to take that job? I think there is more waste because the salaries are so low and these directors, chiefs and supervisors do not care. They are not paid enough to care.

It is still a raise and an increased pension for whoever gets the job.

Further, the Pittsburgh police chief job is still very high for the region. A police commander who gets offered the gig is a lot better off taking it as opposed to taking a job in McCandless or McKees Rocks.

[zman63]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Seriously, how tough is it to be a fire chief? Half the City firemen I know work another job and mostly just sit around.

It is a difficult job. Do you know anything about hazardous materials? Could you set budgets and apply for federal grants? Do you know how to spec and order a fire truck? How about trying to discipline firefighters and dealing with their union?

And you just stated a problem i see with the city fire fighters. When they get a working fire it is back breaking work, but the amount of fires in the city has been on a decline. The Pittsburgh paramedics are a separate 12 million dollar department strain on the budget. Why not merge fire and ems? IMO that is exactly what they need to do and hire new recruits as firefighter paramedics. It would eliminate a whole department of duplication with supervisors and chiefs. It would cut down on those that just want to "sit around". The medic calls dwarf actual fire calls. Most of the 30,000 calls the fire bureau responds to are first responder calls for medical emergencies. The paramedics respond to 100,000 calls.

[zman63]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

It is still a raise and an increased pension for whoever gets the job.

Further, the Pittsburgh police chief job is still very high for the region. A police commander who gets offered the gig is a lot better off taking it as opposed to taking a job in McCandless or McKees Rocks.

There is no comparison with those two and Pittsburgh. The same people on this board want Pittsburgh to be a major us city, but then you compare its workers salaries with two places that nobody knows exist unless you live here. Then you try to justify the reasoning that it is still good money.

You aren't going to lure quality talent from other metro areas that pay more. Hence the whole platform the mayor ran on correct? He wanted to get the most qualified candidates throughout the country. That is the whole reason for talent city..... So far it looks like a flop

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by zman63

You aren't going to lure quality talent from other metro areas that pay more. Hence the whole platform the mayor ran on correct? He wanted to get the most qualified candidates throughout the country. That is the whole reason for talent city..... So far it looks like a flop

Why look for people from around the country or "lure quality talent" at all?

Why not just promote from within, and find the best people locally? The Pittsburgh area has quite a few talented and able people who understand the area.

Further, with the nebby characters in elected office, any police chief or school super is going to be micromanaged anyhow. In the PPS, the successful superintendents were those like Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Brennan who worked their way up. Dr. Thompson and Mr. Roosevelt were undoubtably talented people, but they didn't quite understand the political climate and were both second guessed every step of the way.

[PghYinzer]

As foreign of a concept that it can be to many, there are people who consider 100k a decent salary, and do take jobs to make a difference.

Being top talent is based on the salary that they are willing to work for? Actually if you are only willing to do a good job because you are getting paid a ton of money says more about you. There are plenty of people who work in social services, or for non-profits that make next to nothing, and are extremely qualified and are the top talent. $$$ isn't everything to everyone, and being able to be part of a progressive gov't set out to change a city is actually probably worth more to some folks than their salary.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

I am not on board with the idea that just because other cities pay more we should. Cleveland and Buffalo are often cited as examples as cities with higher salaries, but NO ONE in their unbiased right mind would say they are doing all that great. The logic that salaries are higher in cities doing the same, or often worse, than Pittsburgh, so Pittsburgh should raise it's salaries? That makes absolutely no sense.

If anything Cleveland and Buffalo should cut their salaries.

Let's not forget state income taxes and gas prices are much higher in New York than PA as well.

[gg]

What a stupid thread. I don't have an opinion about this guy yet. Way too early for such a thing. Surprises me that people would even be thinking about it already, but that is a sign of the times I guess. People want things to happen yesterday. Pretty silly, but it takes all kinds.

[Corvidae22]

Originally Posted by zman63

I know the whole back taxes thing does not look good. It does not matter how they try to spin it. I am a big Peduto supporter, but so far I am not seeing change. I am just worried all this good press for pittsburgh being most livable etc is going to be wasted. If the government cannot get straightened out the hope is dismal. Our leaders need to do the right thing for once.

You are right this is a very small town. Pittsburgh's director of public safety was slated to make 105,000 this year as it it a bit higher than the police and fire chiefs which pay 101,000.

Buffalo, New York pays their fire chief 108,000 and police chief 116,000 a year. Which is significantly lower than cities of comparable size, but still more than Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh needs to bump these salaries up.

105,000? Dollars? Per Year? Pfft, I could make more than that at McDonald's. You can't even afford a mortgage payment with that. The Fire Chief and Director of Public Safety probably share a studio apartment in Greenfield.