NO ONE is talking about a pay CUT - it is a pay freeze. People in the private sector have lost their jobs, or are taking actual pay cuts. The proposal here is that no one loses their jobs and no one takes a pay cut. In the midst of deep recession that sounds like a pretty good deal.

And as the article points out, city salaries have already gone up 16 percent since 2006, and that does not include the major cost of benefits.

And lets be clear - city employees have NOT suffered in the last 5-10 years. How many actual layoffs have occurred? We need the city to keep up services while keeping costs flat - not closing city hall or the library.

City employees do a good job but it is time for them ALL to share some of the pain that is affecting all Mountain View residents. Accept a pay freeze for the next year and give Obama a chance to turn around the economy.

For the life of me I cannot understand how a article about a budget and top salaries make absolutely no effort to put the salaries in perspective. How much do the same folks make in other Bay Area communities?
Also it is amazing to me that the reporter did not ask the City Manager why so many thousands of overtime is being paid to well paid employees.

You speak about salary comparisons? Many of the Bay Area Cities like San Mateo have been forgoing raises, agreeing to contracts without raises and allowing position elimination for over 15 years. Many communities realized this 16% increase over 2006, because many communities were playing catch up. They had promised for 10-15 years to bring these employees up to median. That happened for many in 2006-2007. Many of these civil servants could have gone to the higher paying cities or to the public job market, but they are dedicated to their communities. Let's not rake them over the coals because they have a job. Just wait until they don't and see what City Services you lose. Be careful what you ask for, you may get it.