Loading ...No Money In Government, Says Who?
There are days when I have to wonder what’s going on over at the Marion County Public Library (MCPL) System. Cost overruns on projects, cut backs in services where needed and just a general public perception of incompetence. You’d think that would be enough to shame some people, but not there. The Indianapolis Star is reporting this morning that the CEO of the MCPL, Linda Mielke is getting a 4 percent raise. The raise would bring Mielke’s salary to $122,000 annually. If I knew the Library Board would reward bad behavior with a raise I would have signed up a long time ago.
When asked about her raise, Mielke told the Star, ‘I don’t want to talk about my raise. Everybody else got a raise.” If I ran the library system the way Ms. Mielke has I wouldn’t want to talk about my raise either.
If there was ever a reason (or 122,000 reasons) to privatize the entire Marion County Library system, this is it.
March 24th, 2006 at 2:35 am
LOL… you’re kidding, right? You got all high and mighty this morning, making the same comment you made here. Find me a CEO of a private organization the size of the IMCPL that makes $122,000 a year.
March 24th, 2006 at 3:12 am
Find me a CEO who runs their company like the IMCPL and tell me if they should remain CEO?
March 24th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
I have NO disagreement with you as far as her job performance. She doesn’t deserve a raise, she deserves to be fired. But privatization would NOT decrease CEO pay. Hell, I’m a health care worker and I make half of what she does.
March 27th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Which of you would turn down a raise if your boss recommended it?
I think the public need to remember that Ms. Mielke was brought in a little over 2 years ago to fix IMCPL problems. She did NOT cause them. The construction problems were already well established; the budget was already a concern. As a change agent, she will not be well liked, no matter what she does. Why are we hanging the woman for doing a next-to-impossible job getting IMCPL out of the fix it’s in?? It’s not a glamorous job by any means.
Hold people’s salaries so there’s no layoffs? CRY FOUL! Increase spending in popular materials which results in a 22% increase in circulation in 12 months? CRY FOUL! Switch the focus of Outreach and the Bookmobiles to Emergent Literacy? CRY FOUL! Eliminate outdated employee benefits that were milking the taxpayers? CRY FOUL!
Indianapolis and its library are fortunate to have a strong leader now more than ever. Let the woman do her job.