Cities can make do with fewer public employees

The details of government employment often defy common sense given that staffing levels, salaries and pension benefits are based on the power of municipal unions and politicians rather than on the normal efficiencies that rule private operations. We recommend an occasional perusal of the database Transparent California, where the public can view the eye-popping salaries and benefits often received by California public employees.

A recent investigation by this newspaper’s Teri Sforza found city staffing levels are equally incomprehensible. The highest-staffed city, on a per-capita basis, is the tiny industrial enclave of Vernon, which only has 222 residents. It has one worker for every 0.8 residents, which should theoretically make the city government rather responsive. But as LAist report