Wednesday, October 6, 2010

CalTrain Salaries Rise as Service Plummets

Great story by San Jose Mercury News exposing how over paid our public workers are.

Caltrain employee pay rises even during rocky time

Excerpts:
  • Even as Caltrain executives warned that the commuter railroad was heading off a proverbial cliff because of financial woes, their spending has risen considerably in one area: their own pay.
  • Caltrain's administrative payroll has grown 14 percent over the past three years, a period when officials have said they were seeking to cut spending, according to documents obtained by the Bay Area News Group. The extra money spent on salaries would be enough to pay the cost of running the railroad on the weekends -- a service Caltrain has said it may have to discontinue to balance its budget.
  • When benefits are added in, total compensation jumped 34 percent -- enough to also save service to Gilroy plus a few weekday trains. Salary information for nonadministrators, such as conductors and engineers, was not available, as these employees work for Amtrak.
  • By comparison, SamTrans, which runs San Mateo County's bus service, saw its total pay for all employees increase 7 percent during that span. BART says its administrators' salaries rose 5 percent, and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority says pay for administrators grew 2 percent. National inflation was 5 to 6 percent.
  • Figuring out who exactly works for Caltrain -- and how much they get paid -- turns out to be an excruciating task. Virtually all the rail line's 190 listed administrators split time working for SamTrans and the transportation authority in a downtown San Carlos headquarters. The time sheets for employees can be convoluted.
  • The employees listed on the Caltrain payroll in the fiscal year that ended in June earned a total average salary of $77,300, roughly half of it coming for work related to the railroad. Three years ago, Caltrain employees earned an average total of $59,900.
  • The highest-paid staffer on the Caltrain payroll is Bob Doty, who heads the agency's collaboration with the California High-Speed Rail Authority. He saw the Caltrain portion of his paycheck increase from $136,781 to $154,585.
  • More than twice as many Caltrain officials now earn six-figure salaries: 58 this year, up from 26 in 2007. In addition, 27 people now earn more than $80,000 just from the Caltrain portion of their paycheck, up from 18.
"That's crazy -- I haven't been getting raises the past few years," said Caltrain rider Jennifer Durham, a Sunnyvale resident who works in San Mateo. "People should be paid appropriately. But making sure the money actually goes to providing service is what I'd be focusing on."

Friday, January 29, 2010

Inconvenient Lies

I just must comment on the totally dishonest representation of the new GDP figures.
Whatever the administration spins this to mean, the fact is that the 'G' in GDP stands for 'Gross'. If you have ever been involved in business, retail, wholesale or any other form, you know what your 'Gross' figures as opposed to your 'Net' were completely different.

To arrive at any 'Gross' Figure, the 'Negative' components are converted to their opposite 'Positive' figures. These new figures are then added together with the 'Positive' figures, revenues etc, to produce a
'Gross' figure.
So, you ask, so what?
Negative becomes positive; under these progressives, the more 'negative', the more expense, the more government spending, the more indebtedness, the LARGER THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT.
So the more negative dumping of our money down the current rat hole the higher the GDP is.

In General 'They' can always use that stat that says the 'Economy' is growing even though they are spending nonexistent money on unproductive government jobs.

Do the math. New Government jobs are paid for by new taxes and the more 'nonexistent' money they spend, the higher the GDP. Then they blow smoke up our ass calling it growth when it's only mortgaging more of our Grand Childrens futures.

Kalifornia becomes St. Thomas

You know they're going to put this bailout on the US Taxpayer, 'To Big To Fail' and all that. As a precondition for any bailout, 'WE" should demand resignations from The Governor and ALL State Legislators and Department heads. For their last act they will call for a new election of all offices in a nationwide election. From then on Kalifornia will be a US Possession with the same rights and representation as The US Virgin Islands and Guam.