Wichitopekington

Council member Janet Miller said she normally wouldn’t even consider looking at employees’ salary as a place to save money. But during the budget workshop Tuesday, she said it might be a reasonable alternative to layoffs and cutbacks that leave people without jobs and limit city services.

She asked that city officials examine a .5 percent or 1 percent pay cut as a temporary solution to the projected $13 million deficit the city is facing. She also focused on the ratio of management to lower ranks. “Can we spread some of this out on a shorter term basis?” she asked, as council members mulled eliminating as many as 101 positions in City Hall. “Maybe those aren’t good ideas.”

Her comments generated almost no discussion. The politics of pay can be a touchy subject, particularly in public meetings. But the idea may warrant some talk. For several years, most city employees have enjoyed a 4 percent cost of living raise and a merit-based pay increase of up to 2.5 percent. For many, that means a 6 percent raise each year. Of course, thousands of employees work under union contracts negotiated on a multi-year basis. (You can search for city employee salaries on The Eagle’s database.)

The city’s overall payroll, including benefits, climbed by 4.8 percent from 2007 to 2008 — or from $175,175,563 to $183,497,653. (See source)

Overtime pay has also been an issue. When The Eagle investigated overtime about a year ago, it found the city was paying more OT than anytime in the past five years. Some employees nearly doubled their salaries. Others out-earned their bosses with OT. At least 71 city workers earned more than $10,000 in overtime in 2007.

Overall, that meant $3.7 million in overtime pay. Officials, particularly in the transit department where bus drivers drew thousands in overtime, said they were working to limit that by hiring people more quickly to fill vacancies. Whether that is working remains to be seen.

Kansas state legislators got a relatively good grade in The Center for Public Integrity’s financial disclosure ratings. The state’s C grade makes it number 9 in the nation, behind places such as Louisiana, Washington and Texas.

Kansas dropped one spot since the last time the non-profit graded legislators’ financial disclosures in 2006. But it’s grade was the same — a C.

David Unruh

Sedgwick County Commisioner Dave Unruh was at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. this morning when a gunman opened fire, killing a  security guard. See TV interview.

More on the shooting.

This just in from the common sense department: Drivers should yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

Believe it or not, Wichita — and apparently Kansas — did not have a law allowing police to ticket folks who buzz by people walking in crosswalks. The state changed its law, and now Wichita plans to codify that in the local books at the city council meeting Tuesday.

An average of four people a week are hit by vehicles, an Eagle analysis from 2006 found. More than a quarter of those people were hit in crosswalks.