Roses and raspberries

By: North County Times - Editorial staff | Sunday, January 9, 2005 8:32 PM PST ∞

The "We'll Think About It" award - A raspberry to Pam Slater-Price and Bill Horn, North County's representatives on the county board of supervisors.

Last week they decided to give themselves a fat raise, calling for the board to award a 25 percent boost in pay by April. If one additional supervisor on the five-person board agrees, their salaries will rise from $115,070 to $143,838 a year.

There is a question of merit: Our supervisors have done some good things and some bad things in recent years. As for cost, these are tight budget times.

But fundamentally, we think it's OK for our public servants to give themselves a raise, provided they first ask the boss. In this case, that means the voters. We note that Slater-Price stood for election just two months ago: She wanted the job ---- at the existing pay ---- and we gave it to her.

If supervisors want a raise, let it take effect only after each politician's next election, a common practice in some states. If voters don't think they deserve more money, they can fire them.

The "Compassion without Borders" award - This week, our roses are reserved for the thousands of North County residents donating their time and money to aid the survivors of the Dec. 26 tsunami, one of the deadliest disasters in history.

The outpouring of charitable giving from the government and citizens of the United States has made us proud: as of Friday, the United States has pledged $350 million, while Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy estimated that U.S. corporations, foundations and individuals had chipped in $322 million in cash and goods.

In North County, the honor roll of tsunami fund-raising includes religious organizations, hotels, Irish pubs, nonprofit groups, cafes and high-tech companies:

- Vista's churches and temples, including Calvary Chapel, the Vista stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Vista Assembly of God Church, Vista Community Church, All Saints Episcopal Church, the First Church of Religious Science, Vista's Buddhist Temple and North Coast Church.

- Julie and Casey Sobolewski of Oceanside, and that city's Motorcycle Cafe, which hosted their fund-raiser. The Sobolewskis' local efforts followed their heroism rescuing 50 people from the sea off the coast of Thailand as the waves rolled through Dec. 26.

- Encinitas' Self-Realization Fellowship and San Dieguito United Methodist Church.

- Escondido's Pure-O-Tech, a water purification technology company that has donated the use of one of its portable water treatment systems to southern India, promising safe drinking water to about 5,000 tsunami victims.

- Escondido's Thai Buddhist Temple and the Thai Association of San Diego.

- Atria Buena Vista and Atria Encinitas, which raised money for the Red Cross.

- Worldwide Emergency Relief, a Carlsbad-based humanitarian group that helps victims of disasters around the world.

- Tom Giblin's Irish Pub in Carlsbad, which organized a benefit concert Sunday to raise money for UNICEF. Also worth noting are the 10 bands lined up by Friday to perform: Highland Way, Matt Hensley from Flogging Molly, The Wayne Johnson Trio, Faceless, Brehon Law, the Plug Uglies, The Clay Colton Band, Skelpin', and The Leper-Khanz.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.