Water and Wages....

Two items on last week’s Lindsay city council agenda took me back to the beginning of our watchdog days:  the pending studies on our water system, and the performance evaluation of our city manager, whose contract is currently being negotiated. 

Two water studies are being proposed:  one on water rates, the other on our water system.  The impetus for the rate study was generated by the public outpouring over high water bills in September, 2010 after the Porterville Recorder released a series of articles about Tulare County’s highest paid public employees and Scot Townsend placed fourth, far above Porterville’s city manager.

In general, the city and the press both missed the message between water and wages that Lindsay’s people were bringing.  “We are mostly people with such low wages that we have trouble paying our water bills - that most essential utility of all - and you’re paying them WHAT????”  It was a justice issue as well as an economic one.

The city heard only the economic side. “We can’t charge less for water because the city charter requires that the water system pays for itself,” they replied.  Then they realized they had no recent evidence to prove that our water rates reflect the true costs of running the system, so they started talking about conducting a study.  Months later when the 2009-2010 audit was released, it revealed that non-water costs had been paid out of the water fund, notably portions of salaries for staff in other departments.  Oops.

The economic justice issue raises its ugly head in another arena:  paying non-prevailing wages on City construction projects.  Being a charter city permits it, although I don’t understand how.  Normal cities are required to pay prevailing wages on public works projects “when paid for in whole or in part out of public funds” according to the CA Dept. of Industrial Relations website.  Yet the contract with 99 Pipeline for building Sierra View Extension using USDA funds is exempt.  Those workers hired by 99 Pipeline (whose motto is “Get Laid”) are getting paid less than they would in Cutler-Orosi, which is not protected by charter status.  Meanwhile, our city manager is lining up for another year of salary well above the prevailing wage for towns our size.

One very interesting website, www.smartcitiesprevail.org, presents a strong case for the community development benefits of paying prevailing wages.  Other reasons include the quality and true cost of projects.  “Absent prevailing wages,” notes Sacramento City Councilperson Sandy Sheedy, “public projects become vulnerable to fly-by-night operators who underbid responsible contractors, pay substandard wages, and produce inferior projects...that can lead to enormous costs in the long run.”  The observations of Lindsay’s many sidewalk supervisors would support that position.

One of the most important findings of my research on small towns is that more even distribution of income results in greater economic vitality and stability.  The wider the gap between the highest paid and the lowest, the worse off the town’s businesses become.  I think it would serve our community well if our staff and council members visited that idea - and then took steps to lessen, rather than increase, that spread.