In her self-congratulatory puff piece (“Times are tough, but SLO is well-prepared,” Nov. 11), SLO City Manager Katie Lichtig outlines the ways her administration is belt-tightening during these tough economic times. One “success” she lauds is the cutting of “26.8 full-time equivalent positions through attrition.”

Lichtig, who makes almost one-third million dollars a year in salary and benefits, fails to tell us how many positions remain on the city payroll, thus making her number in isolation virtually meaningless. Nor does she mention that Santa Maria, 30 miles south of SLO, runs its city effectively with half as many employees per capita as does Lichtig’s city—and Santa Maria’s city manager makes about half of what Lichtig makes.

Seems like there ought to be some actual laying off of employees during these tough times, rather than waiting around for people to retire or quit. I would suggest that Ms. Lichtig start with the administrator-heavy Public Works Department, which, despite Lichtig’s claims about storm-drain and street-coating triumphs, supervises unending pothole-blighted streets, archaic traffic signals, and a woefully inadequate traffic circulation plan.

Sure, she can get to work on this task right away, assuming she hasn’t strained her shoulder while patting herself on
the back.

Henry Powers

San Luis Obispo