DEAR PLATTE COUNTY OFFICIALS:
I am writing to formally object to the Salary Commission’s decision to increase elected official salaries by 30%. This decision is completely tone-deaf and profoundly out of sync with the economic reality that the people of Platte County are living in.
Families in this county are dealing with: rising food and utility costs, wage stagnation or modest cost-of-living adjustments at best, increased property taxes, and a private sector where a $100,000 salary is far above the median salary.
At a time when working people are cutting back on groceries and basic expenses, it is unacceptable for elected officials to award themselves a raise so large it outpaces not only inflation, but the lived experience of the people you represent.
A raise of this magnitude during a period of financial strain for most Platte County residents sends a clear message: that county leadership is insulated from, and indifferent to, the economic pressures facing the public.
If ordinary residents have to stretch every dollar, the county should not be rewarding itself with pay increases larger than what many people in this county earn in an entire year.
This decision should be immediately reconsidered. Anything less reinforces the growing perception that county government is acting for its own benefit rather than the public good.
--Andrew J. Champlain
Platte County
