Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Curry County commissioners have a lot of work to do today. Their meeting agenda includes nearly 100 items, ranging from consideration of closing County Road R near Cannon Air Force Base for security reasons, to renewal of a burn ban, to yet another discussion on building a new jail.
Oh, and they're planning to give themselves a pay raise.
They're not planning to discuss giving themselves a raise. This item is on their "consent agenda" along with 47 other items, because they are all "routine" and can be approved by one motion, according to the agenda.
We wonder what's "routine" about giving anyone a 14 percent raise in this economy.
To be fair, Commission Chairman Wendell Bostwick is the only current commissioner affected by the proposed pay hike, from $20,073 to $22,832, the maximum allowed by the state Legislature. Commission seats currently held by Frank Blackburn and Robert Sandoval are not eligible for a raise until 2014. Commissioners elected this year who take office in January — Ben McDaniel and either Tim Ashley or Paul D. Barnes — will receive the same as Bostwick.
Maybe Bostwick deserves a raise, maybe not. But no matter how busy commissioners may be, we think the taxpayers have a right to hear a public discussion on the topic before a raise is approved.
Football's importance needs perspective
The $60 million in fines are not important.
Debating slashed scholarships, the "death penalty" or whether Coach Joe Paterno's statue should have been removed from Penn State University's campus are all minor issues.
What's important to think about today in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal are the words of NCAA President Mark Emmert:
"Football will never again be placed ahead of educating and protecting young people."
We'll let the collegiate athletics world decide whether NCAA punishments announced Monday are too harsh, too light or just right.
What we want to ponder is how did football ever get to be more important than a child's welfare?
How did a game — never mind its financial rewards — ever rise to a level that its preservation became more important than doing the right thing?
And in how many other public institutions is football still more important than educating and protecting young people?
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Clovis Media Inc. editorial board, which includes Publisher Ray Sullivan and Editor David Stevens.
