Dist. 3’s Snider against elected officials getting raises

Recently Arizona Rep. Jack Harper (R-District 4) filed House Bill 2240 – its working title is “County officers; pay scale.”

The measure actually calls for salary increases for county officials (all but the Clerk of the Court) in counties with populations less than 500,000.

I want to go on record here and now as being opposed to HB 2240 for a number of reasons, only some of which I will list here.

First, Pinal County employees have not seen any salary or pay adjustments in four years and the future doesn’t look good for that to change in the coming fiscal year – I shouldn’t get one either. (The salaries for Pinal County’s elected officials haven’t changed since 2009.)

Secondly, despite the trumpeting of pundits, the economy here in Pinal County, although promising, is still far from robust and residents are still pinched for jobs and livable wages. Layoffs are still taking place and people are making hard, hard choices. Now is not the time to suggest that elected officials get a salary increase.