Doing more with less is rare in public sector

Here’s quick brain teaser: Which one of the following items is so glaringly out of the place that it defies common sense:

1. Thirty years after the collapse of the steel industry in the Mahoning Valley and the resultant loss of 50,000 jobs in all sectors of the economy, recovery is still a work in progress.

2. As General Motors and the United Auto Workers Union slog to reach agreement on a new contract, there will be sacrifices, and the Valley will be on the frontlines of the expected business contraction because of GM’s Lordstown assembly plant. There’s no guarantee of the facility’s being in operation after 2009 when the current Chevrolet Cobalt models are discontinued.

3. Delphi Packard Electric has already suffered greatly because of its parent company’s bankruptcy, and the future looks bleak. Packard Electric was once a major employer in the Valley.

4. Fifteen full-time employees in the Trumbull County Treasurer’s Office were given pay raises by outgoing Treasurer Christ Michelakis because — brace yourself — they have been doing more work due to a reduction in staff.

O.K. It doesn’t take any brain power to select No. 4. It is so out of step with the economic reality of the Mahoning Valley that it prompts the question: What is causing such myopia in Trumbull County government?

The decision by Michelakis to raise the pay classification of the employees by one or two stages was a parting gift that will keep on giving — unless taxpayers in the private sector (you don’t think other government employees will say anything negative, do you?) rise up to be heard.

Not futile

An exercise in futility? No — for a couple of reasons.

First, the public has already shown it can affect change. Case in point: The reversal by Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere on the exorbitant pay raises he gave his management staff. The public outcry forced the county commissioners to berate the sheriff, who ultimately decreased the raises he had granted six administrators — but he also softened the blow by giving them hazardous-duty pay. It’s the first time this pay has been applied to such employees.

The second reason a roar of disapproval from the taxpayers would have the desired effect is that Michelakis’ successor, Sam C. Lamancusa, who was appointed to the position by the Trumbull County Democratic Party precinct committeemen and women, will have to run for election next year.

Lamancusa, office manager during Michelakis’ tenure, has justified the raises on the grounds that the number of employees has gone from 21 to 15. The reduction in payroll has meant savings in salaries and benefits, including hospitalization.

“When we don’t replace employees, we save money in a lot of ways,” he said.

But where is it written that those savings should wind up in the pockets of the employees who are still feeding at the public trough? Is county government so flush with money that there aren’t other spending priorities?

By the way, Trumbull County government workers have received 3 percent pay increases, which is larger than the average raise for private sector employees (at least those fortunate enough to get a raise — and not a freeze or worse, a pink slip.)

If Lamancusa hears the drum beat of discontent from the voters, he would be hard-pressed to repeat the ridiculous contention that his employees are doing more and, therefore, deserve to be paid more.

We are reminded of the words of George V. Voinovich, now a U.S. senator, when he became governor of Ohio several years ago: Government employees must learn to do more with less.

It’s a lesson that should apply to all levels of the public sector — as it does in the real world.