Dig a little deeper

Did anyone notice that the salary list compiled by City Treasurer Kevin Kennedy included compensation for elected officials as well?  No?   Yeah, me either.    I think once people got into normal salary range most people just stopped looking.

It wasn’t until a commenter on The Island mentioned the Council pay as listed in the new Bay Area News Group database.   Of course, there was also this story which mentioned that Medical/Dental/Vision benefits are a huge perk for part-time elected officials like ours.  Highlights:

Government compensation data acquired by the Bay Area News Group, which includes this newspaper, show that hundreds of part-time elected officials — and in many cases family members — received full-time health care benefits in 2010 courtesy of taxpayers, costing many cash-strapped agencies tens of thousands of dollars.

…

According to an annual survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, one in four private employers offers health benefits to part-time employees. But in local government, it’s a different story.

Riled up

Taking a small break from Alameda focused politics to direct your attention to Dan Wood’s latest posting at A Progressive Alamedan.     Of course, it does have an Alameda hook though.   Pete Stark will be hosting one of his many Town Hall’s this Saturday and while — from what I understand — these tend to be lightly attended events, because the focus will be around health care the possibility of fireworks of the disruptive kind are expected but not encouraged.

From A Progressive Alamedan:

…Apparently there are some right-wing groups that are targeting town halls across the country, and Pete Stark’s is expected to be hit — the idea not being civil discourse and disagreement, but disrupting.