Sunday, March 16, 2008

"...for the essence of generosity is in self sacrifice."

I have always believed that the difference between your value as an employee and the salary you are paid is a charitable contribution to your community. Well, Maintenance employees are among the most generous people in our community. Day after day, they contribute the value of their labor for a salary that falls terribly short of what is reasonable.

The current Planning and Property Management Specialist position, which was recently converted to clerical support, earns more than 88% of Maintenance staff. Only five earn a smidge more than Brian Harding's new secretary, and generally had to put in decades of service to crawl to their lofty salaries of around $60,000.

Where does the clerical union stand in this situation? How was the District able to create a clerical position without seeking input from the union? Should there be a collection of union dues? Why wasn't this position made available to the dedicated staff that currently serve in a clerical capacity?

When selecting a vendor to supply products with a value greater than $5,000, district employees have to secure three quotes. But when hiring a person that will be earning nearly $60,000, two lackluster candidates were enough. Strange. That seems to be a rather twisted miscarriage of rational employment practices. Why wouldn't there be a mandatory minimum standard? How did the selection committee allow this to happen?

I would be curious to know just how many people on that selection committee actually live in the District and, arguably, would care just a little bit more about how local tax dollars are spent. Oh, that's right. I have those records. More later.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

After hours security is also quite alarming. More than $70,000 in salaries, plus benefits, and there are still two nights a week without active coverage.

I won't say which two nights.

Anonymous said...

How did the warehouse supervisor get his position? He can't even manage himself, nevermind a small crew of five? Is that right? What other $60,000 manager oversees only five people? Seems that might be too much for him to handle anyway. Is Fluke hiring, back?

Anonymous said...

Just another case of mis-management by the District; one would think they would be "on their toes" after so much concern from the Blog. I guess they just continue to spend tax payer's dollars to the law firm of Perkins Coie, to protect themsleves. Just isn't fair that "Chuckles" gets paid nearly $60,000 to manage 5 employees who can "manage"
themselves; this is proven fact. I have nothing but praise for the Warehouse guys; they continue to prove themselves by providing excellent service to buildings and beyond, despite having to deal with an inefficient, biased, "boss" (Porn King).

Anonymous said...

Great Weblog site. I'm new who is this "Porn King"? I would like to meet some of you bloggers some day soon.

ESD15.org said...

You will have to keep reading to learn more about the characters. As far as the contributors, we tend to prefer to remain incognito.

Anonymous said...

"Porn King" is the Manager of the Warehouse, who was found to have pornography on the District computer in his office. He is still employed; the matter was "swept under the rug", and he continues to be employed by the District, along with his wife who works in Human Resources. Keep reading the Blog; good information.

Anonymous said...

The district spent thousands to protect this guy. In the private sector he would have been fired and looking for employment at another employer, who would probably require him to put in full work weeks. His work ethic is pathetic, and beyond further description. I wonder if Chuck contemplates what kind of staff look over his kid, in his respective school district? Knowing what I know of Chuck, I can probably answer that myself. Too bad he lacks the guts to lead by example. He is merely a follower with no backbone.

Anonymous said...

Yes the Joker and Riddler are back at it again. It was so nice of her to come back to bless us all. Her contribution to the department was so much so, that she has given herself a much needed break. See she can't steal time from the Edmonds school District any longer, so she must find other ways to keep her neat little title, and her job. Going out on a medical or having doctors notes to stay home, prevent the district from firing her. She would know that as well as anybody. This is what you and I get in return for allowing her to work in Human Resources.

Anonymous said...

Additional: ABC rentals has been paid around $15,000.00 - $18,000.00 a year for table rentals during WASL testing since Chuck Penney has become warehouse manager. If there is any suspicion of any relationship between ABC rentals and Mr Penney other than above board business dealings someone should come forward with evidence. It is a difficult annual expenditure to justify. Let us remember that a few years ago a school administrator attempted to purchase over $20,000.00 from a company that had promised him a job and his first sale was to have lined his pockets with District funds. Someone cottoned on to this and he was promptly dismissed.

Anonymous said...

First, isn't there a ceiling for expenditures beyond which services and goods have to go up for bid? And second, could the request for tables be coming from someone else in the District who has a potential business connection?

Anonymous said...

That would be my guess, and Chuck just has to say yes, again. Stuart Lane would never have allowed this to go on. He put his foot down on garbage like this. That is why the district was so happy to see him go. Nice send off by the way. The district still owes that to Stuart. He was a heck of a caring person.

Anonymous said...

But wait I heard that Porn guy was caught at another job with same stuff on his computer as he had in the district. He will do it again because he can't help himself. He is a sick guy!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the comment on Stuart Lane; he earned every dollar he was paid, gave an honest work day, was ethical and efficient. We may never see this kind of management again under the current administration. Again, I will say that the warehouse "guys" are a great bunch of dedicated employees. I feel bad that Stuart wasn't given a much deserved send off by the District. Food Service arranged for and organized the party for E. Kelly, from Telecommunications, who also was a dedicated and trusted employee. Oh, for the good old days.

Anonymous said...

The district elected not to have a retirement party for Stuart Lane. He put in 20 years and worked at least 9 hours a day as warehouse supervisor.
They ushered the new guy in with a pee wees playhouse pizza party. He was only capable of working four days before him and his beautiful wife to be, left for Hawaii.
Ladies and gentleman, this would be a clear violation of WAC 357-31-195. You may NOT use vacaion before it is accrued! Would anyone care to argue this with me? Nevermind the State code, he made the statement with that smart move, that he really is not interested in working.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Harding also started working for the District and went on vacation a few days later.

Anonymous said...

Then let's start ringing these people up. They are worthless and gutless liars. These two for sure.

Anonymous said...

OK. Which department of the county/state government is responsible for enforcing these laws? Atty Gen's office has said that they don't oversee school districts. Has OSPI washed their collective hands of this yet? County prosecutor? Animal control?

Maybe these laws are what is known as a "straw dog."