{"Body Text Edit"/}The Empire Center for New York State Policy recently launched a website,
www.seethroughny.net, that lists the salaries of more than 263,000 state government employees as of May 1.
The site also includes information about teachers union and school superintendent contracts, operating expenses for the Senate and Assembly, and the Legislature's member items for 2008-09.
Locally, the site shows that more than 35 employees in Otsego and Delaware counties make more than $100,000 a year.
We applaud the creation of this site, because we, too, feel that the taxpayers have a right to know what their money is funding. Having access to this knowledge, however, prompts the question of whether the officials making such large sums of money actually deserve to be.
Most of the employees who hit the $100,000 mark locally are administrators at the State University of New York campuses in Oneonta and Delhi, judges and state police.
The site, unfortunately, doesn't shed light on related issues that would be significant in approaching this question, such as the experience level of the individuals and the benefits they receive. We would encourage the center to look into providing those pieces of information as well.
On the whole, we believe these individuals are appropriately compensated for the jobs they do.
As State University College of Technology at Delhi spokesman Joel Smith pointed out, the five administrators that earn six figures there have a high education level and an average of 25 years of experience. They have responsibilities for enrollment, generating revenues, student services and other day-to-day duties at the school, which is a $50 million operation, he said.
An example of an administrator with a broad spectrum of duties is Jeanne C. Miller, vice president for student life at the State University College at Oneonta. She oversees programs for the Office for Multicultural Affairs, counseling and health centers, student disability services, Hunt College Union, the Center for Multicultural Experiences and student judicial affairs. She came to SUCO as a licensed psychologist who had worked in private and community mental-health services and had been working in higher education since 1986. She's putting all that experience to use in helping a large number of students.
As state and county courts Judge Brian Burns pointed out, "The fact that other people make more is a reflection of how important those jobs are to society."
School administrators, judges and those in high positions within police agencies are responsible for many people. In the case of law enforcement and judicial officers, they are directly responsible for the safety of the local population.
Considering how much of their lives they've devoted to their work, that they're at the top of their profession, and their responsibilities to the community at large, unless they are under-performing, it seems as if what they earn is deserved.
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