VOR wrote on Oct 5, 2007 5:13 AM:What's best for Murrieta? A City Manager that is worth his or her weight in gold or conservative ideolouges trying to limit what we are allowed to pay a public servant. An exceptional, experienced City Manager can save millions over his or her tenure, bring in business, streamline good government. You pay for what you get and I'd rather have the best then settle for anything less. Murrieta is beyond the the pettiness of the Republican party, the group backs a 21 year old bank teller as its candidate of choice. Casey Evans is a...What resident of our city wants Bob Kowell deciding whats best for us? Here is a shinning example if we let him infiltrate our city government. The others will be a thousand ...political signs on every street corner. Murrieta we have been embarrassed by childish tactics far too long. It's time we grow up and stop being an embarrassement to ourselves.-

Jake wrote on Oct 5, 2007 8:27 AM:It's often said that a city gets the politicians it deserves. If Murrieta seems to think they can hire by payscale as a merit, they're in for a world of hurt. We all know that MUCH more qualified candidates have turned away from this job because of this nonsense about pay limits - so what are we going to end up with? We need the best, not the best priced - now is not a time to think about value, but to think how much a QUALITY city manager could ADD value, and how a salary that is market priced (look at Temecula's good fortune in Shawn Nelson and his payrate) provides LONG TERM benefits, not SHORT TERM savings.-

The Duke wrote on Oct 5, 2007 10:38 AM:If Murrieta, or any other city of 95,000+ population, limits the salary of City Manager to $144,000 then he/she will have to work for less than the top department heads are getting or, all staff (including police and fire) will have to have pay cuts in order to adjust the pay equity from the top down. There will be a giant vacuum as the employees leave for other adequate compensation. Great idea, huh?

Euphoric Reality wrote on Oct 5, 2007 11:43 AM:It is outrageous that a city manager for a podunk town of 90,000+ should make from $250K - $300K per year. Go look up military payscales and you will discover that a 4 star general or admiral has a base pay of about $170K per year. Military leaders make life and death decisions and risk their lives in combat zones. City managers hired from insider networks just milk the taxpayers. Ask yourselves these questions Murrieta; have the salaries of the city managers of Murrieta in the past few years improved Murrieta? Or, have the salaries hurt Murrieta? Also, when you consider all of the traffic problems, poor planning and ethical/legal/criminal problems within Murrieta city hall, does the city manager deserve a salary up to $300K per year (which is the salary of the current city manager.) These answers are no brainers to all (except the ones who feed at Murrieta's public trough.)

How smart wrote on Oct 5, 2007 11:44 AM:The Republican party, after the way the have screwed up our nation needs to keep it's nose out of our cities politics. We are a growing city and they want to stifle the growth, so they can force a child upon us.

Concerned-1 wrote on Oct 5, 2007 1:12 PM:You get what you pay for. You also, unfortunately for Murrieta, get what you vote for.

Jake wrote on Oct 5, 2007 2:21 PM:To Euphoric - thanks for the RM prespective !

Reality Check wrote on Oct 5, 2007 2:34 PM:If Euphoric Reality lives in Murrieta and thinks it is a "podunk" town, then he/she will be happy (euphoric) with a less than mediocre city manager and staff at city hall. The rest of Murrieta, who want the bar set higher, need to express themselves at council meetings and polling places. Otherwise "podunk" is all that will ever be able to exist here.

To Jake or is it JackA wrote on Oct 5, 2007 4:48 PM:Euphoric Reality is expressing the Republican Opinion clearly expressed by Bob Kowell and Casey Evans, not the RM Opinion.

Agree with Duke wrote on Oct 5, 2007 5:57 PM:I agree with Duke. I personally don't want to see my City limit payscales on the workers we hire. If you want crummy service, then you pay them crummy. $250K is no less than a real good CEO makes. I'd rather have a real good CEO running our city. Pay well and maybe Murrieta will be a better City.

Peppercorn wrote on Oct 6, 2007 11:27 AM:What ever hapened to public service. Public servants shouldn't make the same salaries as those who risk everything in the private sector. Our country wasn't built on government. It was built on those who risked themsselves in businesses; working for the governemtn is not risky-it's safe. If anyone in our city is making more than $144 and they aren't the city manager, their salary should be cut. Anyone else who commented against limiting salaries which creates big government must be either members of this government monopoly or Democrats who want big government. Ed Faunce of RM is a liberal Dem that destroyed any good things that RM may have sought and he is against all the new initiatives just becasue he didn't do them.

citizen wrote on Oct 9, 2007 6:46 PM:The iniside word is that NEITHER candidate that Mayor McCallister (or is it Gibbs?) calls "heavy hitters" has ever been a city manager. They don't want a real city manager but a puppet they can control. Gibbs wants to be the city manager. If you think things are screwed up now, wait until next year when he's mayor. Remember, we rotate our mayor because Enochs forced the issue when he was not selected year after year. Now we're stuck with it.

Waiting and Watching wrote on Oct 10, 2007 1:03 PM:We had an excellent City Manager who was bright, hard-working and ethical. Perhaps that's why the RM clones (Gibbs and Tomasian) ran her off. She was brighter than both of them, had a better grasp of the "vision" they claim to have had for the city and her professional reputation was, and still is, impeccable. So, now we'll have to wait and watch to see who they can find with the vast experience needed to pull Murrieta out of the political cesspool it's become.