In Defence of Fair Comment and an Interesting Comparison
Eric Ricker (intro by Ron Bolin) August 12,2011
The attached Letter to the Editor was written and sent to the Daily News on July 23, several weeks ago. As it has not been printed, despite the cogency of its questions to our local situation, I have asked and received permission from its author, Eric Ricker, a retired Professor of Educational Policy and Public Administration, to publish it here. Eric was raised in Nanaimo and is the Editor of the book: “Nanaimo between Past and Future: Critical Perspectives on Growth, Planning and the New Nanaimo Centre” which was published by the Friends of Plan Nanaimo in 2005. Copies are available in the library.
The Column to which he refers is by Diane Brennan and is titled: “Ferry bigwigs get too much money”. It can be found at:
http://www.canada.com/Ferry+bigwigs+much+money/5143040/story.html
In 2006 Dr. Ricker raised an issue regarding the publication of letters to the editor in the Nanaimo Daily News with the BC Press Council. The results are shown at the Press Council’s web site at:
http://www.bcpresscouncil.org/reports/2006.html
I believe I am correct in stating that Dr. Ricker has not subsequently had a letter to the Editor published in the Daily News.
I leave it to you to determine whether Dr. Ricker’s comments are unworthy of public discussion. (RB)
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To the Editor:
While interesting, Diane Brennan’s column on executive salaries at BC Ferries (July 22) stops short of the mark. If the head honcho of Washington State Ferries is paid a mere $144, 000 or so in (lesser) US currency for transporting a comparable number passengers on an annual basis, one has to ask, how much do the rank-and-file management and ferry workers make compared to their WSF counterparts? The answer might prove instructive in assessing the ever increasing cost of passenger and auto fares.
There’s another question that arises from Ms. Brennan’s critical posture: If she thinks the million dollar man, David Hahn, is overpaid (and I share the sentiment), what does she have to say about the ever-ballooning executive salaries at Nanaimo’s city hall? After all, in our medium-sized city several employees exceed the pay level set for the WSF boss. It would be interesting to probe further to see how much city hall workers make compared to their counterparts in medium-sized cities in the state of Washington.
Ms. Brennan, of course, served on city council while executive salaries kept soaring well beyond the rate of inflation, arguably to levels local ratepayers can ill afford. I don’t recall hearing one word of criticism from her about that.
Eric Ricker
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
I believe that the average increase in the salaries of senior civil servants in British Columbia over the last decade has been in the neighborhood of 70%. Executive salaries at the municipal level have increased similarly. This rate of increase is substantially in excess of inflation.
The Liberals on assuming power in 2001 deliberately pushed up executive remuneration. The theory was that management wages in the public sector had to be made competitive with the private sector in order to attract and keep the best people. Of course we hear similar arguments locally when the salaries of the Nanaimo poo-bahs are questioned. Comparisons are invariably made with salaries for their counterparts in a place like Kelowna – but then those guys make the comparison with Nanaimo. The ol’ whipsaw argument.
Executive wage inflation in the public sector has also occurred in Great Britain. The same justification has been made; namely, that public-sector organizations had to compete in the market place for senior managers and that if salaries were lower, the caliber would decline and services would suffer.
A British police chief last year caused a great stir by criticizing the kind of salaries he and his ilk had managed to achieve for themselves. Sir Norman Bettison said he was paid too much and that the level of pay had nothing to do with market place competition for the best. In fact the best leaders in the public service are the ones who “secure long-term public value and a vision for their staff, not some mercenary performance manager peddling a short-term fix”. He also noted “Here is the irony – public sector leaders would have continued to provide the leadership for less pay.”
Do we really get better people in the public services by paying more? I suggest that private enterprise hotshots will not necessarily be good managers in government. They have an entrepreneurial bent which instinctively leads to empire building. Management at the provincial level, if anything, has declined from forty years ago when the executive ranks were filled with notorious cheapskates who led a civil service which did far more than it does now – back then public employees repaired roads, cleaned hospitals, did the medicare paperwork, operated a railway, etc. Nanaimo’s own well paid executives have demonstrated a talent primarily to spend great gobs of money on dubious projects.
The “best”? Then let’s hire the “best” on short term contracts until the next “best” comes along and base it all on the alternative approval process.
I agree with David Brown when he says, ” I suggest that private enterprise hotshots will not necessarily be good managers in government. They have an entrepreneurial bent which instinctively leads to empire building. Management at the provincial level, if anything, has declined from forty years ago when the executive ranks were filled with notorious cheapskates who led a civil service which did far more than it does now “. BC also has a history of some of their BC Premiers getting onto some legal issues.
I have met or spoken with many government employees that seem to think they can go on a power trip, and because they work for the government they are always right. Tell me why the cost of my insurance is double what I paid in Alberta for exactly the same insurnace I get in BC. In Alberta my insurance was private but here I have to have ICBC and a private insurance company to receive the equal amount of coverage.
Why did my daughter have to pay for 2 full years to driver licence cost but only get a drivers licence for 1 1/2 years, and the cost was not prorated.
Where I think a good contract person would be beneficial to the City is a review of all positions within the municipal government here. These positions and the values attached to them need to be reviewed and documented for all to see. A good indepenent contractor would be money well spent, in my opinion.
The total cost of city hall is well beyond sustainable when you consider that over 62% of every tax dollar goes to pay wages and benefits. That is before one piece of pipe goes in the ground or one road is cleared in winter.
While the general electorate have been soundly asleep the public service in the province have quietly been feathering their nests with the help of our elected officials. In the end, the public only have themselves to blame for not taking responsibility for what our masters have been doing.
The public service pay scale vastly exceeds the private sector, and the benefits and pension and severance packages are borderline criminal IMHO.
We, as the sleeping electorate have no one to blame but ourselves, as it has taken many years to create the mess we now have.
Locally, since we ARE paying top dollar for our top management at city hall, we damn well need to make sure we are getting top level personnel in those positions. And that won’t happen if we keep promoting from within.
We need to hold open competitions for these top positions every five years to make sure we are getting bang for the buck.