Only two weeks ago it came out that CalPERS was paying second wages to managers who did extra work in certain areas. Now it emerges that numerous state departments allow hundreds of employees to hold more than one job.
This newly exposed practice does not appear terribly unethical. But it’s unsemly. During a recession in which many people desperately want jobs, public employees have two.
Such comfy arrangements stem from public employees’ culture of self-enrichment. To certain public employees, looking for ways to pocket more tax dollars is their primary occupation. The actual work required by the job is just the price of admission to a system their union can milk for ever greater wages and benefits.
There are and have always been admirable public employees in Stockton and elsewhere. I write about them, too. But the nonstop hail of revelations of glaring over-compensation and recalcitrant public employees ensures fiscal reformers’ continued attention. And bad ink for unreconstructed, me-first public servants.
