The article argues against Mayor Matt Mahan's proposal to return salary-setting authority to the San Jose City Council through a pay-for-performance model, jeopardizing a previous reform. This shift undermines fairness, transparency, and accountability in public service. It highlights that performance-based pay contradicts democratic values and cites research indicating its ineffectiveness and potential for fostering corruption. The article asserts that accountability should derive from elections and public scrutiny rather than self-imposed benchmarks, emphasizing the need for thoughtful governance over short-term political wins.
In a democracy, accountability comes through elections, public hearings, audits and media scrutiny, not politically set compensation formulas.
Tying pay to metrics that capture only one part of a complex job leads people to game the system.
Performance-based pay for elected officials is not just ineffective; it's dangerous.
Highly regarded research in economics shows that public goals are difficult to measure and rarely attributable to individual actors.
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