Readers upset by city management pay
Wendy Alexander/Madera Tribune file photo
Madera Unified officials gather with the family of the late Virginia Lee Rose for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Virginia Lee Rose Elementary School. Construction is expected to begin early 2019 for a new health and social services complex near the school.
The Madera Tribune received the following comments online about articles and local happenings.
City wages
A commentary by Michael Pistoresi compared City of Madera management salaries and benefits to other San Joaquin Valley municipalities. Below are some responses.
“Rodonna Lynn Betts” wrote, “Greed is widespread and is causing many problems in our world.”
“Cindy Chidlaw Diaz” wrote, “Once again, just like the County of Madera, they only look after themselves and not the employees that do all the work. Totally unbelievable. Top people making way too much money! For your information, the county employees sued the the county and employees got their furlough money back.”
“Michelle Garcia” wrote, “There can only be change if we the residents of this city and county stand up to those in our local governments. We are not a rich community and shouldn’t be paying these outrageous salaries! Please contact your representative. … We need term limits. We need to get this on the ballot.”
“Junaid Lateef” wrote, “It doesn’t show all the excessive benefits citizens of Madera are paying for these thugs. … Nothing is going to change till we have new, qualified city council.”
“Josie Ontiveros” wrote, “Wow!”
“Geri St Lucia” wrote, “Andy Medellin, William Oliver and other council members, this is appalling considering the state and condition of this city.”
“Sergio Franco Broker” wrote, “How is it that a town 1/8th the size of Fresno, can have a similar budget for the same positions. Something is not right!”
“Gabriel Falcon” wrote, “That IT manager position (salary) though.”
“Sergio Franco Broker” replied, “Crazy, huh? That’s (why) we are going broke, (and) that doesn’t include benefits! … Government wastes the most money, ‘cause when they fall short on their budget they raise taxes to cover up their mistakes!”
“Laura Leyva” wrote, “Yup, that’s good ol’ Madera, yet our town lacks much in comparison to other towns too. … It’s too bad. So much greed and it’s all about who you know or whose son or daughter you are, etc.”
“Matthew Wheeler” wrote, “(It) costs more to run Madera than Fresno. There’s some real crooked people working in this town.”
“Todd Mitchell” wrote, “It shouldn’t be possible to make that kind of money in the public sector. When you make more money working for government and city jobs than in the private sector, I agree, something is wrong.”
“Tony Tobin” wrote, “That is what happens when you vote for your own salary. Incumbents won’t lower their pay. And someone taking over wouldn’t take a pay cut. Runaway spending without being checked is synonymous with politics.”
“Christina Dassori Perez” wrote, “Totally not right.”
“Casey Valdez” wrote, “I was a CO years ago and they are the lowest paid in the entire state. At least they were then. I think management shouldn’t vote their own raises.”
“Robert Ramirez Jr.” wrote, “It’s the same way in the county.”
“Mario Carrillo” replied, “Did you get to read the whole article? It’s stuff that we’ve had to deal with since I started and from what I hear way before. But they all are buddy buddies, so they don’t bring it up. I don’t know if this is going to change anything but yet they want to cut jobs.”
“Robert Ramirez Jr.” responded, “Of course, they do. They need more money for themselves.”
“Gloria Lopez” wrote, “These salaries are outrageous compared to surrounding cities. And then they won’t give workers a comparable raise.”
“Anna Shurrum” wrote, “Community development position is off the charts? What community development are you doing to earn $265K a year? When citizens earn on average $43K a year. Horribly lopsided.”
Murder
Two robbers shot and killed a Tackle Box mini mart employee — 20-year-old Dharampreet Singh Jassar, of Caruthers — shortly before 11 p.m. Monday (Nov. 13). Fresno County sheriff deputies later arrested a suspect, 22-year-old Armitraj Singh Athwal of Modesto.
“Lettie Via” wrote, “Prayers to the family that they find the guys. So sad.”
“Richelle Rodriguez” wrote, “Down the street from my parents. Nice.”
“Angela Ponte” wrote, “So sad to see this. They didn’t need to kill the poor guy. People have no regard to anyone living, human or not. It’s just so disgusting that we live among such horrible people.”
“Richard Torres” wrote, “My heart goes out to his family and my prayers.”
“Nancy Burgess” wrote, “One down one to go! Get those devils off the street.”
“Carolyn Taddei Pruett” wrote, “Glad they arrested the perp. So sorry for the family of that young man that was murdered.”
“John Badorine” wrote, “So sad. In little ol’ Madera. Visited that place often.”
“Opal Leasure” wrote, “He (the victim) was just a kid. Prayers for his loved ones.”
New complex
Construction is expected to begin early 2019 for a new health and social services complex near Virginia Lee Rose Elementary School after Madera County supervisors approved designs and financing plans this month.
“Jean Pruett Bounds” wrote, “I sure hope Road 28 gets widened. There is already too much traffic on that road.”
“Perla Gabby Vaca” wrote, “Yeah! Can’t wait for our new building.”
“Rosa Sanchez-Granado” wrote, “You gals deserve it! Congrats!”
“Judy Connaughton” wrote, “This should be paid for by the City of Madera. This is not an improvement the entire county will ever have the opportunity to use. Were we informed it was under consideration?”
“Richelle Rodriguez” wrote, “And when are they planning on taking the problems at the (animal) shelter seriously? Instead of laughing them off because they’re friends with the director and her husband. In other words, when are they planning to do their job where that is concerned?”
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