Posted on 12/30/2008 5:13:37 PM PST by AuntB
GRANTS PASS, Or. -- Even though the raises are in the budget, a group of Grants Pass city employees says higher salaries would be unseemly.
Members of the Grants Pass Employee Association have told city officials they'll forgo 2.5 percent cost of living adjustments due with the new year.
Association leaders say the members looked at the overall economy and the layoffs among major local employers and decided they didn't want their friends and neighbors to see them as grabbing money.
The decision is expected to save the city at least $87,000.
Assistant City Manager Laurel Samson said nearly 100 employees have decided not to take raises, including some supervisors who usually get the same percentage increase as association members.
Last week, Rush Limbaugh talked about a study proving 'conservatives' give more than liberals. This is more support for that notion.
I agree.
Although I think this city’s employees are doing this to hedge against possible layoff’s later..
Now.. if we could get the other cities in Oregon to do this....
I think I need some sleep, I read “Grass Pants” City Workers . . .
So. Oregon ping. They haven’t all gone over to the darkside yet.
“I think I need some sleep, I read “Grass Pants” City Workers . . .”
lol....About a million years ago I worked for the Credit Bureau in So. Oregon. LOTS of typing, mortgages, law suits, etc. My two biggest typo’s were Grants Pants and Shite City (White City).
Are they sure? Better watch and see where this money ends up . . . .
Grants Pass is good people.
Total complete bullshit!
The city manager, David Frasher, had a closed meeting with the city employees and told them that they either did it voluntarily or the city would do it for them. It was a form of extortion because if they didn’t do it, he would then make their life miserable.
The entire city upper management took their raises and
nothing was said.
There are many city employees who tell or snitch to
a group of us who are trying to reform this mess.
Four new memebers of the city council take office on
the 7th and their all reformers. One of the first things
they want to do is have a forensic audit of the administration and the planning departments. Right now
the city is scared sh__less because they know that things
are not going their way and the public is going to find out
how badly the city is being run....
This article was handed to the Courier by the city.
Great, now if they can eliminate 10 percent of the city positions, to keep in step with the private sector, in an effort to reduce the intrusive tax burden.
A few more points. Medford, four times the size of
Grants Pass, has already laid off people from the planning
department, which was just slightly larger than the staff
of Grants Pass. So far our city of 30,000 with seven
planners hasn’t laid off anyone. This city now has no
new developments and the building permits are almost zero.
So what does the planning department do? They propose
planting more trees alone the sidewalk easement to promote
protection for the people on the sidewalks from autos that
have gone out of control. This was a three month project
for one of the planners.
Our fair town is in for a rude awakening next year.
You betcha. Mr. Inspectorette and I have always overnighted in Grants Pass when traveling back and forth to and from Southern California. Been doing it for years. In fact, we were just there two nights ago on our way home from SoCal. Had the best prime rib in the world at The Brewery.
Yah think? Hell no! We were told this is a great time
to hire people because with the economic downturn, we’d be
able to hire highly qualified individuals that normally would
never consider coming here. Truth!
bttt
Never happen here in New York. Wish we could replace Bloomie with someone who knew how to cut government, not grow it.
Correct. Someone once said the only time a New Yorker thinks about his neighbor is when he's picturing the nice big apartment he could have if his neighbor would move out and he could combine the two apartments into one.
Grants Pass just had a huge turnover on the city council.
Too bad the county government is so corrupt...
Josephine County has a very corrupt court. Carpetbaggers and grave robbers.
The government, from the Oval Office down to the local city council positions are corrupt to the core.
Yes it is good there. Our Haus is also very good and you can't beat Wild River Brewing for pizza and a beer.
In addition, government at every level needs to be completely investigated, starting with their financial records.
You got that right, 99%.
Grants Pass (the city) isn't bad, it is Josephine county that is REALLY bad.
We managed to get rid of one liberal this last election and elected a whole slate for a new city council. There are still two liberals on a three member county commission and the courthouse is brimming over with carpetbaggers and grave robbers.
Exactly... The court in this county is covering up massive tax fraud and insurance fraud. Bribes are everywhere and extortion is a way of life there.
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God Bless ‘em!!
That would be R-Haus. What happened to the Yankee Pot Roast? Last time I was in Grants Pass it was no longer where it was on 6th St.
Of course. Eventually , the majority of people will figure out they are being had by their corrupt local government agencies. The fraud and corruption in government at all levels is inescapable and widespread.
It's choking America off.
Your comment and the locality (Grants Pass) reminded me of a story from back in 2002 or so. It took awhile to google the story as I couldn’t recall much, other than CPS workers taking kids from a vacationing family because they were “too skinny”. Mom and Dad made matters worse when they tried, but failed :( to get their kids back by hijacking the CPS van after a visit.
http://oregon.familyrights.us/christines/history.html
I know one of the cops that was there when they took those kids. He said they were emaciated, not just skinny. This cop is good guy. He said afterwards many of the folks involved were tearing up over the shape those kids were in. The kids were significantly small for their ages. I got the story from folks who were there not some reporter.
Thanks for the link. Interesting, first time I have heard of this case, it happened before I moved here. No mention of who the judge(s) were. I know of a few other stories regarding this particular court from people who have had dealings with the civil division in Josephine county.
There is a level of corruption at the Josephine county courthouse I have never seen before in any place I have lived - - the civil division is a textbook example of a kangaroo court.
The attorneys here are also thieves, blackmailers and extortionists.
Yankee Pot Roast closed their doors. I never went there. A lot of places downtown have empty spaces. The buildings are old and in need of major renovation.
The story is new to me. I will investigate.
I will say that as far as the court should be concerned, it was a great over reaching on their part without evidence of drugs or substance abuse. While I certainly don’t approve of that family’s lifestyle, having skinny kids living on a bus is not a crime in the United States.
I do think most of the judges and attorneys in this county belong in prison for racketeering. There needs to be a R.I.C.O. investigation and an IRS audit of that court. A lot of drug money from methamphetamine and cocaine flows through the place, there is a great covering up with local tax fraud, collusion with the local grifters, deliberate indifference to the rights of the citizens and enforcement of municipal codes.
That's because on the whole, we love our country and we are able to see outside of our own desires, whereas liberals tend to act more like misanthropes.
"Grass Pants" would be a most excellent name for a band.
Smart on their part--unusual for union members.
People here are beginning to see it here. A whole new city council was swept in and one new county commissioner was elected who promised to comb through the vermin infested courthouse. The new mayor I am not real sure about.
The elected officials and county employees think they own the courthouse...and apparently they do considering what they get away with.
They just gave themselves a 7% payraise!
Correct. Local tax measures were defeated for the last several election cycles. People here justifiably have a distrust of the local government 'good ole boy' employment game where everyone on the county and city crew is someones nephew, auntie or cousin.
The county itself has been on federal welfare for almost a decade due to the loss of timber harvests and the county governmnet faces possible dissolution. The public employee retirement system (PERS) eats up half of the budget.
This PERS situation is widespread all across the country and is the other shoe about to drop for the national economy.
When lavish salaries, benefits and retirement for people who produce essentially nothing working for government account for the largest employment demographic, the numbers don't add up when you have few private sector industries.
It is going to get worse. Let them eat cake, they voted for it...
They just gave themselves a 7% payraise!
Josephine county just did the same kind of thing, even though they have been sniveling incessantly for a few years about the loss of federal funds for the timber harvest restrictions.
Yes it would. Just as long as it isn't their stage costume, I might be interested in seeing the show, it sounds like a blues thing...
I don’t much disagree with your evaluation. I do know that we have a lot of people crying wolf with the intent to obscure the situation here. The corruption is deep and wide spread. I just wanted to point out that there are still some good folks who try to do the right thing. In the court system, not so much. If you’re a male and going through divorce or custody issues, kiss your butt good-bye.
The new mayor will last less than a year or so. He was
pushed by the old boys club to keep the status quo which isn’t
going to work with the new members of the city council. He
doesn’t have the stomach for a fight.
Our congressman came to town and requested a meeting with the county commissioners to see how he could help--the County Judge lied and said he would be out of town.
The congressman came anyway and met the public in an eatery across the street from the courthouse. The commissioners didn't cross the street to meet with him but he later went to the tour the courthouse and the judge and commissioners were having an illegal unposted meeting in the commissioner's court room. They only care about themselves...they couldn't care less about the loggers that are suffering. Our congressman is a Repub but we do not have one Repub elected county official. We have a new Dem County Judge who thinks the congressman is his best friend.
I think our commissioners' average IQ is ab out 80.
That is partial true. What was not reported is that the
CPS people stepped way out of bounds legally and if the family
had had a good legal eagle, the whole case would and should
have been thrown out. The family had done nothing wrong at
all in the eyes of the law until a busy body complained and
then the CPS people stepped in and literally made up charges.
The courts are one issue, I agree that they are out of control. Yet, I also believe my LEO friend when he said that the kids were in terrible shape and truly in danger. The taking of the kids was necessary, the follow up? I don’t know. Remember that some of the kids required hospitalization to get them up to a decent weight. Maybe education of the parents would have worked, but they threw that option away with a gun and kidnapping. If you remember the case, the parents stopped their court ordered visitation in protest. Nobody could convince me to stop seeing my child. Regardless of if it’s supervised or not. I went through years of custody battles and at no time did I think that kidnapping was a viable alternative. If the children had been in danger in the states custody I would have felt differently. There is no evidence that they were endangered by anyone other than their parents.
Your county mirrors mine and I’m in SE TX. I think it must be a universal problem with bureaucrats.
That case (Christine’s) was well discussed here. Most think the authorities got it right.
Too bad the Yankee Pot Roast is gone, was a great place to eat. Jack Ridley, who passed away a few years ago, opened that restaurant in the 80's (he also started R-Haus).
Buildings downtown old and in need of renovation? Compared to the first time I was in Grants Pass, about 1981, downtown has been extensively renovated. The last time I was in GP, a few months ago, downtown looked good to me. Most buildings are occupied and in good repair.
The good people who are trying to do the right thing often get sued and dragged through the kangaroo court here for one reason or another. It is used as a tactic of intimidation against them. The feds need to investigate the court in Josephine county.
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