Make public jobs more like private

Make public jobs more like private

These thoughts are present- ed by a Canfield resident and school taxpayer since 1976 and into the future.

I am aware that the board is stuck with very bad and costly contracts. In that the taxpayers are hurting, there is no reason why all public employees, including teachers (some of questionable performance), should be special and go unscathed.

Some of the gold plated and secret bonuses needs to go. All new hires should go into Social Security or into a mandatory 401k with contributions no greater than I and my employer make into Social Security. Current employees should gradually be rolled into the same. Sick and personal days should be as with the private sector, “use them or lose them,” not a bonus at retirement. These days were intended to protect against loss of income when needed, not a golden parachute.

Performance, not longevity (since it is virtually impossible to fire a bad teacher or other public employee), should be the basis of layoff and/or termination. I succeeded in the private sector because I preformed, not just because I showed up.

Mandatory retirement should happen to allow for new blood into the system, and collection should be at age equal to that of Social Security If you are that talented, then you should be a shoe in for a second career.

Daniel Victor Bienko, Canfield

We’re going to create jobs where?

The latest talk coming out of the Obama administration is of the U.S. spending billions of borrowed dollars to create jobs in the Middle East so as to keep the move toward democracy alive and well. After two years of this administration’s socialist policies killing millions of jobs here, if I were an unemployed Egyptian, I wouldn’t be holding my breath.

Frank Santolla, North Lima