UTA salaries

In 27-plus years of following governments, I’ve seen plenty of salary surveys designed as arguments for why public appointees should be paid more. Usually, these compare Utah salaries with those of comparable jobs elsewhere, then make the argument that the state will lose its best and brightest to the higher paying states unless it makes adjustments.
But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a case where Utah’s salaries are so far ahead of everyone else that it’s, well, embarrassing. Until now.

The Utah Transit Authority’s John Inglish makes $348,929 per year. This KSL story includes a graph that compares this with other transit leaders in the country. Only one, New York City, pays its chief more. UTA’s daily ridership is 143,000. New York’s is 8.7 million. In this Deseret News story, UTA’s Board of Trustees chairman argues that the salary should be compared to those of the heads of private transportation companies, too.
Well…
In any profession, whether it’s accounting, business management or transportation, it’s understood that government jobs won’t pay as much as the private sector. People go into public service for other reasons — at least they should.
I’ve known Inglish professionally for years now. I like him. I have no quarrel with how he’s directing a growing transit authority. (As a side note, however, the Deseret News story quotes UTA’s board chair as saying the current problems between FrontRunner construction and ancient Indian settlements is a new thing. But I blogged on the subject a year ago.)
These salary stories are an embarrassment. So far, no one has offered any real justification or explanation that makes sense. And yet I don’t know how you could justify reducing someone’s salary without cause.