Nov 10 2009
Mecklenburg County Manager to Receive $38,000 Bonus
This past week, the Mecklenburg County Commission authorized a $38,000 performance bonus for Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones. Now I have no problem with people receiving bonuses for a job well done. In fact, I have no problem with Harry Jones receiving a bonus. He has had a difficult job navigating the county through the current economy. I’m sure he’s deserving of a reward for that. I usually get a bonus at my job every year too.
My problem is not that Jones got a bonus, but that Jones got a bonus of $38,000. The man is already receiving $303,000 in annual compensation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average per capita income in Mecklenburg County is $33,109 per year. Jones received a bonus which is more than half of the population in the county he is presiding over makes in an entire year. I just think this sends the wrong message.
Share
Not to shabby for a guy who began at a NC community college, Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst.
[Reply]
I don’t know the guy or anything about him but that’s how the free market works. If there’s something fishy going on, that’s a different story but you’re griping about the size of the bonus. People should either be paid what they are worth as determined by their employer or we should let someone else (the public, the government) decide how much is too much. I’m for Plan A.
[Reply]
This isn’t the free market. It’s the government.
[Reply]
Is it a matter of ‘you get what you pay for’? What is the ‘worth’ of a government employee? Is if ‘fair’ to compare government workers with the private sector? Do we only get half-assed government workers because the pay does not attract a better quality of ‘worker’?
Personally I don’t think government workers at his level are being underpaid to begin with. What is the ‘bonus’ for? Why are there ‘bonuses’ for government employees anyway? We should not have to incentivize good work or good work ethics when the pay is already as ridiculously high as it is.
This reminds me of Gloria Pace King, the over-compensated president of the Charlotte United Way, who apparently wasn’t making enough money ‘working’ for a charity and used the charity (allegedly) to pay for personal expenses. It isn’t similar in many ways but, in my opinion, but smells just like it. I don’t fault Jones. I do question the bonus system.
[Reply]