Opinion

On Feb. 6, my son took his car to get new tires. He was asked to

• Certainly not higher than $200k. At that, this would be very generous. • $150,000 – he does a great job and that is a great compensation! • At the level of enrollment, he should be receiving close to $150,000 and perhaps some performance-based bonuses. • $150,000 or commensurate with  community college president salaries and benefits of comparably sized institutions. • The compensation level should be tied to the rate-of-pay of the rest of the employees. One formula could be 10% more than the highest paid employee. Another might be no more than 75% more than the lowest paid full-time employee. After applying some formula, the board needs to look at enrollment, budget, accomplishment of goals, customer (student and taxpayer) satisfaction, and faculty assessment. What we know for sure is that the current compensation is way out of line. • $250,000.  He’s already at that level, or pretty close.  It would be insulting to reduce his salary. Future salary increases need to be thoughtfully considered, though, based on Gavilan’s revenue, cuts to services, public opinion and salary comparisons of all Gavilan staff. It seems that top level staff receive hefty compensation packages while rest of personnel receive no raises or salary cuts to bear the burden. • Somewhere about $165k seems fair. • Our Gavilan College President has a payment contract as of last year. I have no idea what a president of a JC should be paid, but I’m guessing the amount can exceed $250,000 since his total amount when the payment contract is completed will be $276,000. • $200,000 is fair and reasonable • A very reasonable salary and benefit package should be $150,000. Then, attach an aggressive bonus plan of up to 25% of the package that rewards recipent based on Steve’s production.  Part of incentive plan must be related to how the student and taxpayer benefits from his leadership. Our elected officials have gotten way off course by chasing a false philosophy in which it is believed that to get great public sector managers, you must pay them private sector wages.  Higher salaries can be justified and  sustained only when they are tied to financial risk. If public sector managers want higher salaries they can find them in the private sector. • “Researcher John Curtis said that, according to a recent survey conducted by his organization, the compensation of public community-college presidents range from $81,000 to $390,000, not including extra benefits for housing and car expenses. The size of the salary is influenced by the size of the school, its location and the number of its students and employees.” Given this information, I think Kinsella's salary is too much for the size of the Gavilan student body. His salary today makes sense in a school that serves over 35,000 students at least – Gavilan has less than 6,000 students. The Trustees depend on him and his expertise, but competition for jobs is healthy and should be practiced for Gavilan’s presidency in the future, given that student fees are increasing and more students are relying on financial aid to finish their schooling … $150,000 to $200,000 is more reasonable.

DEAR EDITOR:

A burning hope expressed in poetic form for the safe finding of 15-year-old Sierra LaMar

When Frank Parra Sanchez passed away at the end of the year, Gilroy lost one of its heroes. According to his brother Ed Sanchez, USAF (ret.) Korean War vet, Frank was on Omaha Beach on D-Day. A month earlier in 1944 my Uncle Ben was...

This month, the California Legislature has recognized June as Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month. Leaders across the state are coming together to emphasize the public health emergency facing 670,000 Californians who are living with Alzheimer’s disease.   Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder...

Clearly, area politicians and South Valley residents must reject

DEAR EDITOR:

To the Editor, I write in support of the Cordoba Center project initiated by the South Valley Islamic Community (SVIC) to provide a mosque for worship and related spiritual services, a cemetery, a separate community building for social and educational activities, and a caretaker’s dwelling...