The Schrammie: Greed rules the day

When I was in my early 20's I worked 2 jobs at Everett Mall. Each paid a little over minimum wage at that time. I had to get a written okay from each company to work the other. It wasn't a problem because I was honest and told the 2nd job that I worked at the first. They both sold jewelry and engraved to there may have been a conflict. Where I work now I sign an employment contract every year that has a clause about working for a competitor. I can't do that for 2 years after leaving my present employer. I understand conflict of interest and this guy works for the Port where he may need to make decisions regarding the shipping company he also workes for. If he as a public employee needs a second job with what he earns then he needs some financial help.

Perhaps the conflict of interest is one of time and energy. If you are able to do your job while only devoting half of your time, we may conclude that your compensation is 50% too high.

The Port of Seattle is not run nearly as well as the port of Tacoma. Clowns like this guy just make it easier to see. Next time when electing port officials vote out the ones who hired Mr Yoshitani. 

Since when working two jobs became a bad thing?  Mark Emmert of UW had three or four jobs and you didn't complain.

Meanwhile most employer are expecting $12-$15 dollar an hour salaries to cover $1100 dollars rents in this city. Do the country a favor, buy American!

Sad that you have these over paid jerks stealing jobs from people who really need them.

If there was a conflict of interest, he'd be fired from his public job.  I love a success story and think it's great this guy is able to have 2 high paying jobs.  If one job diminishes his performance, it's his risk, and he'd certainly be replaced.  To anybody who thinks "how dare him", I'm sure you wouldn't turn this down. 

So, show me the conflicts here, Ken.  If his second job is in conflict with the first, then there should be some demonstrable evidence.  I know lots of people working two jobs, I don't condemn them just because they make more than I do.  A little jealousy here?

The conflict of interest is concerning, I am in transportation and can see how it could be a factor.  I don't care about how much someone makes.  Shame on you Ken for making this about class warfare and envy.  We shoudl embrace people's success.   What you should have focused on Ken was the obvious, we the people need to see how he accounts for his time.  A serious audit needs to be done to make sure not one second of time while being paid by the taxpayers is spent doing anything from his other job, even answering emails. 

 

I don't care how much he makes, I care if he is defrauding the taxpayers while on the clock for us.

I have worked at four jobs at one time in order to make ends meet, so I am familiar with ambition and the need to try and better yourself for the future.  However, I have also had jobs where there were written restrictions on whether you could work a second job--it seems to me that if the Port feels there is a conflict of interest, they should have that written into their employment contracts.  Sometimes it is more important to make the public feel they can have confidence there will not be corruption in jobs like this, than it is risk the chance laws could be broken.  Because people, if given the chance will cut corners, and pad their own wallets if given the opportunity.  Prevention of corruption is so much easier than fixing it after it happens.

Hey Ken.. didn't you moonlight on KVI too?  Second income perhaps?  Conflict of Interest?  None on here would have an issue with it unless you happened to have made 600k combined.  Then they'd be screaming GREED at the top of their lungs.  Shame on you.

 

Again... the issue is Conflict of Interest.  NOT $$$.  Everyone has the right to earn as much income as they see fit.

They should hire me.  I'll work a full 8 hour day at one job and take half the pay. 

So 2 high paying supposedly full time jobs. 8 hours each plus say an hour for commute time to just be generous. That means 17 hours of work a day, leaving 7 hours a day for sleep, eating, bathing and personal matters. Anyone think he's capable of doing high caliber work with high caliber pay at this level? Absolutely not. No one on the planet is worth this kind of money. The Port should be looking to get a better value for its money.

Any supposedly conservatives want to give me a description of capitalism?

Yep. You nailed it, Ken. 

 

  Our local utility service raised the rates by 50% and announced that the public was invited to attend the 'town hall meeting' but would not be permitted to speak.  This was after the utility made an obscene profit selling Kilowatts to Chicago during an exceptionally hot summer. 

  Then a few years later, our local utility commissioner wanted a salary raise to $230,000 a year and when the residents complained, instead of going forward with a rate increase, they started charging for 'delivery' of Kilowatts on top of the usage charge - double billing, and they are still doing this.

 The Washington State Attorney General's Office under Rob McKenna wouldn't investigate because Utilities Commissions are 'clients' of the AGO.  So people trying to survive are hit especially hard during the winter months and have no recourse.

 

The payment schedules aren't reasonable and anyone who can't pay will be cut off.  Pretty convenient money maker. 

 

Greed is a killer, sometimes literally.

I'll say this.  As long as he walks that line I won't punish someone for working more and earning more.  

 

We can not punish people for lines they don't cross.  That's like getting a ticket because you MIGHT speed.

Tay is 65 now, right ? He could just step down from his port job now, collect his golden parachute and retirement pay, and local residents would probably end up paying the next port CEO the same or even more (see what happened with the Seattle School Superintendent.. same or more than Enfield/Goodloe-Johnson).

Schram is an instigator, and a hypocrite.

No conflict of interest, No performance problems all I hear is the Class Warfare crowd complaining this guy has ambition...  So as usual ..if the Progressive, Liberal, Democrats feel someone is successful they want to tear them down. 

 

Hey Ken do you moonlight on any other jobs...?  Anyone else have two jobs??

This is a huge conflict of interest that will only bite the tax payers in the end.  He needs resign or be fired if he chooses to blatantly laugh at the citizens who hired him to do a job without outside interest putting him on the payroll.  

 

The corruption in this city, county and state are so unbelievable.  

He looks like an Asian Simon Cowell.

Lots of critiques about this person's income, how many of you would accept and keep both jobs AND their salaries if you could?

 

I am pretty sure that very few would turn down any job(s) paying that much regardless of their job titles.

 

A little hypocrisy here. I certainly would take the pay if someone was going to pay for it.

Is it Greed because of salary?  Is there a law against having two or more jobs?  If the issue is 'Conflict of Interest', then that has nothing to do with income.  That is irrelevant entirely.  That said.. there should be clear polices around Conflict of Interest.  If there is some oversight that deems this in fact a conflict, he should be allowed to quit one or both.  Why is the focus on income?  Get over it!

I'd fire him from the first (for conflict of interests) and then sit back and see how long he lasted at the second.

Here's some other "executive salaries" for comparison:

 

President of the United States   $400,000/year

Governor of Washington State  $169,000/year

 

Is he REALLY worth as much as POS is paying?  Is he that critical to the job that they are justified oin that kind of salary?  I think not.

IMHO, if you're a public employee earning that sort of salary, you shouldn't have the time to work a side project of any substance. 

People wonder why there is always budget problems? I don't, fire the bum. If he can't devote full time to his job he should not be in it.