Tuesday Reads -- The Salary Game

Locally, county supervisor salaries are the story of the day.

Adam Belz reports in The Gazette that it looks like the Linn County Board of Supervisors will seek a pay freeze, keeping its annually salary at $87,622. Three of five supervisors support a freeze. Supervisor Ben Rogers says a cut to $70,000 is in order. Supervisor Brent Oleson will present his stance to the compensation board at 4 p.m. He explains that processat his blog.

"There're people (who) will say whatever we make is too much," Supervisor Jim Houser said. Who would say such a thing?

I say supervisor salaries should be cut, just as the previous board promised to do last year. They forgot that promise after the election. Funny how that works.

They're also putting a local option tax on the ballot, asking voters to sacrifice. Ironic.

While local leaders are protecting their wallets, the Sioux City City Council is protecting its residents from the dangers of same-sex marriages. The Council, according to The Sioux City Journal, voted 3-2 in favor of a resolution supporting the traditional definition of marriage and urging the Legislature to put a constitutional ban on the ballot.

The money quote: Dan Roder said legalizing same sex marriages would have another consequence. "Do we want thousands of gay and lesbian couples coming to our community to get married? I do not."

Scores of Iowa communities all working to attract new residents, and here's Sioux City, chasing them away. Way to zig when everyone else is zagging. I get it. Reverse psychology. Clever.

At the Statehouse, The Des Moines Register reports that union leaders are making a new push for legislation requiring nonunion workers to pay fees for union-connected benefits. The so-called "fair share" bill has stalled in previous years, but unions aren't giving up. Business groups say the sky would fall if it passes.

The bad news:

The economy still stinks. But that's good news for public libraries,

according to the Quad-City Times. People are flocking in for some no-cost entertainment.