CHATHAM COUNTY commissioners are scheduled to vote today on 44 percent pay raises for themselves next year, as well as a 14 percent boost for the chairman.

They should vote “no.”

Commissioners shouldn’t serve in elected office for the money. It’s a public service.

Anyone who is doing this work for the paycheck — the current annual base pay is $17,344, not including automatic longevity hikes — should have his or her head examined.

County Manager Russ Abolt said he believes that a 44-percent pay hike to $25,000 annually will help attract qualified candidates and deter potential for corruption.

That doesn’t add up.

A person’s pay grade has nothing to do with that person’s honesty and integrity. Crooks come in all sizes, shapes and bank accounts. It’s tough to see how a commissioner who’s paid $25,000 annually is going to be more of a straight arrow than one who makes $17,344.

At the same time, attracting qualified candidates to run for office is less a matter of pay and more of a case about work and family demands.

Serving as a commissioner is considered part-time work. Yet these days, it’s tough for someone who is employed full-time to serve in public office.

Most employers in today’s economy need their employees on the job. That’s why so many elected officials here — and not just on the county commission — are self-employed, retired or have jobs with flexible work schedules. Thus boosting the pay to $25,000 is unlikely to sweeten the candidate pool.

Now if Mr. Abolt wants to make the case that some commissioners need the extra money to help cover living expenses or other costs, we’re all ears. In fact, he appeared to lean in that direction, saying that another reason for a pay hike is to make sure commissioners are “not suffering as a result of the service.”

No one wants any public official to suffer, financially or otherwise. However, no one is forced to run for public office. Everyone knows what the job pays going in.

If the difference between suffering and not suffering is a few extra thousand dollars a year, then the person who needs the additional money should consider a career switch outside of public life.

Meanwhile, five incumbent commissioners who were re-elected this year — Patrick Farrell, James Holmes, Dean Kicklighter, Helen Stone and Priscilla Thomas — will each be getting 2.5 percent longevity pay increases when they begin their new, four-year terms in January.

Granted, 2.5 percent isn’t much. But how many employees in the private sector didn’t get any pay raises this year, or the year before, because of the weak economy? How many aren’t getting bigger paychecks next year?

The strongest argument for the pay raise is that the base pay for commissioners has remained the same since 2001. That’s a long time. If the economy was strong and so many taxpayers weren’t having a tough time covering their living expenses, then a slight pay boost could be defended — but not one of 44 percent.

A 14-percent raise for the commission chairman is less objectionable. The chairman is paid $50,300 annually for a reason — this job is more demanding and more time-consuming than a commissioner’s job.

But giving the chairman another $7,200 a year won’t guarantee better candidates. In fact, the two candidates who sought this post in November were first-rate — Al Scott and Eddie DeLoach.

One problem with county government is that its pay policy, overall, remains stuck in the Dark Ages. It still gives longevity bonuses to employees simply for showing up for work year after year, as opposed to boosting paychecks based on merit to encourage stellar performance.

Elected officials who genuinely serve for the good of the people are worth their weight in gold. Those who are in it for the money are overpaid. Commissioners should drop kick the pay-raise proposal out the window.

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I'm all with you on this one. This is the most stupid thing I have heard in a long time. And I did say stupid. While the tax payers are strugling and they want to go up another $45.00 on dry trash pick up then turn around and vote themselves a large raise. Yet the person picking up the trash are told there is no money for a raise.
But of course their job is a lot more important then the little guys or women who do the physical labor, they realy don't mean anything.