There has been discussion here about planning. The Town of Chatham just sent out an ad for the Principal Planner Position. The requirements are odd:
Masters or better in Planning.
10 years experience with progressive responsibility.
Ability to manage boards and calm people of differing opinion.
Class C drivers' license (that would be a large van or small bus)
Starting at ~72k per year.
What bus driving planning MA or MS would take a job for 72k?
You're not known for paying public employees well up there.
The staring salary for assistant district attornies in Massachusetts is less what the courthouse janitor makes. Good luck putting criminals behind bars with the high quality law school grads you can attract with a $37,500 salary
That's like a bad joke...200k for a JD so you can make burger flipper wages.
Huh, our Town Manager makes 185k, Police Chief is around 175k and the GIS coordinator is closing in on six figures. None of them are licensed to drive a bus I guess...
Translation, the Mayor has a Nephew with a Masters Degree in Planning, 10 years of experience, and a class C Drivers License who needs a job and can live on that salary until his uncle can get him a raise.
Very astute observation and, most likely, completely accurate.
Most municipalities have a set wage scale, that can only be altered by ordinance.
We will see who comes to the party. I hope they are competent, but we are talking about a Town who decided to go away from the Town Engineer / Town Surveyor model and jump right to GIS and overpaid consultants.
As long as I continue to be a consultant, they can do whatever they feel is right.