Quality leadership costs, even the elected kind

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

This letter appeared in the Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana) on 7 February 2001.

This item may be cited as M. R. Franks, Letter to the Editor: Quality leadership costs, even the elected kind, New Orleans Times-Picayune, February 7, 2001, at B6.

Dear Editor:

I'm afraid I have to disagree with The Times-Picayune on the issue of pay increases for elected state officials ("No laughing matter," Jan. 26). The only way to attract quality people to work for you is to pay them what they're worth. It has been observed that people go into politics for one of three reasons: wealth, power or prestige.

The prestige seeker invariably is independently wealthy and mainly wants the title. The power seeker is a megalomaniac: dangerous.

Persons going into politics for money are often the best of the lot. Unfortunately, there isn't much money to be made legally in politics. Yet it's the Huey Longs, the Edwin Edwardses, the Richard J. Daleys that really made things work. Too bad they couldn't have been paid their worth legally.

I grew up in Chicago under Daley (the elder). Two feet of snow could fall during the night, and by sunrise the streets were plowed clear. The garbage was collected on time. Potholes got filled.

Daley truly was a master administrator. He could have made millions in private enterprise. He got his full worth, all right. Too bad he had to take it from under the table.

The honest but incompetent administrator costs the taxpayers hundreds of millions a year on unwise expenditures, while costly, pressing problems are left unsolved. But at least we can pat ourselves on the back for saving a hundred thousand or so on his salary.

Maybe we should pass a law making 10 cents over minimum wage the only legal wage to pay elected state officials. Think of all we could save.

Then we could recruit an entire Legislature from those laid off in the fast food industry.

We get what we pay for.

M. R. Franks
Associate professor of law
Southern University Law Center
Baton Rouge

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