Comments on: Consultant Declares Town Staff Underpaid, Overworked

By: Tony Sacco

Tony Sacco — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 21:32:51 +0000

I agree with Deborah Bender in every word. Let’s let Eastville be the only Government for Northampton, eliminating double taxation, double police and other double departments. We have to reduce government expense and move to a new Comprehensive Plan that will produce high paying jobs for our college graduates. Bring back our tax dollars that we are forced to send to other states like Maryland, increasing their employment rolls instead of ours. Sending our tax dollars to another state is the biggest scam ever perpetrated on Northampton, and our Supervisors approved it in their camouflaged way of doing business.

By: Deborah Bender

Deborah Bender — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 19:05:15 +0000

Sgt. Rasputin — if you think we need all these employees for this little town you should apply for a job. I never said anything about the police department, so please reread what I did say. I have a feeling you don’t even live in Cape Charles because if you did and you went into the town office you would KNOW we are overstaffed by a long shot.

By: Sgt. Jockamo Rasputin USMC Retired

Sgt. Jockamo Rasputin USMC Retired — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 05:35:40 +0000

Mrs. Bender — perhaps 999 full time residents, if that. But don’t forget the out of town visitors, part time residents, tourists, patrons of the Shanty, Kelly’s, the beach, Aqua, the Harbor, the rowdy Accomack crowd, etc. If you’re the only cop on duty, that 999 figure means very little.

By: Steve Downs

Steve Downs — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:14:46 +0000

In a word, bull$&!*. Thank you.

By: Stephen K. Fox

Stephen K. Fox — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 13:58:05 +0000

The salary study is misplaced. These comments are in no way meant to lessen the importance of Town employees or their leadership. The study obviously is based upon comparing like positions in other locations. However, it fails to recognize that Cape Charles and the Eastern Shore do not have a stable employment base to support the level of salaries recommended. The study does not appear to take into consideration the local economy — or reality.

By: Marion Naar

Marion Naar — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 13:39:17 +0000

I cannot judge the monetary results of this survey. However, for comparison purposes it would be difficult to find a small town which supports a large harbor, a public beach subject to direct Chesapeake Bay weather, a long fishing pier, directly adjacent railroad, library, aging housing stock, and economically diverse citizenry. Population figures do not recognize the time and skill that goes into maintaining Cape Charles’ rather unique infrastructure. The improvements in harbor, beach, pier, and housing stock in the 20 years I have lived here are commendable.

By: Dana Lascu

Dana Lascu — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 23:06:37 +0000

In colloquial research parlance, “garbage in, garbage out” is how we assess analyses that compare apples to oranges. It would take some convincing that we are comparing apples to apples before we should even look at this data. Speaking of the data, perhaps the company could have charged us a round $10,000 to deliver nicely-readable tables rather than program printout vomit.

Personally, I’m happy if we pay market salaries – even above market for the police. We just need decent data.

By: Jeff Walker

Jeff Walker — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:11:50 +0000

Technically it is not taxes paying for the building inspector in Eastville. Most of that person’s pay is generated by user fees in the form of fees for building permits. Hopefully the fees are sufficient to cover expenses without the taxpayers of Northampton subsidizing it via their taxes.

By: Andy Spagnuolo

Andy Spagnuolo — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:11:01 +0000

If what the Wave writes is true -- "unable to obtain information from any other town on the Eastern Shore," then the study is flawed and questionable. This should have been a study of our peers and similar work/infrastructure on the shore. Check the demographics for Accomack and Northampton counties. The average government salary in Northampton County is higher than the average private sector salary. It is just the opposite in Accomack County, which by the way enjoys lower taxes and substantive public service. No need to take the Wave's word for it -- read page 4 of the Springsted report (CLICK) which lists the municipalities they asked to complete the survey and then notes which ones did not respond. Curiously, the report doesn't specifically state which ones DID respond, but it's a simple process of elimination. --EDITOR

By: Don Bender

Don Bender — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:24:13 +0000

Number crunching redneck style — If there are 999 fulltime residents and around 40 employees that means there is 1 employee for every 25 citizens.

My wife and I had a pretty busy weekend. Could “my” employee stop by today and do some dishes and laundry please?