As Memphis City Council gets ready for its budget wrap-up this week, we have only one request: no more Fred Smith analogies.
Because of our broken tax structure, there are no easy answers for the Council, only a menu of poor options. That said, the tendency to justify pay cuts (which are crudely symbolic) and the elimination of next year’s pay raises (which are prudently overdue) by citing Fred Smith’s reduction in his salary as FedEx founder is really getting old.
The relevance between Mr. Smith’s salary and any of the 6,000 workers in City of Memphis is non-existent – unless the employees are secretly getting stock options as well.
Come to think of it, maybe City Council should set up the equivalent of public stock options. They could do it by setting up a system where high-performing employees get special payment options. Now, it’s a system of disincentives, dragging everyone down to the same level and sending the message that excellence matters little. Best of all, something like a stock options approach would require city government to set up the kind of performance-based system that could truly shake up the public’s business in City Hall.
Now that would be something worth quoting Fred Smith about.
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4 comments:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5516536/US-cities-may-have-to-be-bulldozed-in-order-to-survive.html
Fred Smith, is he the czar that determines that if you have a booking at the forum no other large venue can be booked, such as the pyramid?
NEWS-FLASH!
Scientific American reported that the national earthquake monitoring folks have decided that the results say that the New Madrid Fault is SHUTTING DOWN! That's right, no more earthquake fears. Did you get an insurance policy?
START BOOKING THE PYRAMID!
Maybe the city should fire EVERYONE call the national guard in to run things first, start over hiring, except this time DO BACKGROUND CHECKS, make a stipulation that the mayor can't appoint felons, that a felony can not be "wiped off your record", start a 'one strike" policy toward graft, you get caught and you get fired un-eligible for re-hire by the city.
How many preachers do you need in your cornfield?
Your idea would create nothing but more graft and control by corrupt shareholders.
Oh, and make sure the top city salary does not exceed the basic police officers salary, since they are doing most of the work anyway!
Its really nice, I agree to tally with your article,
thanks
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victor
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