On Point Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes his On Point column most weekdays. He is also an author and freelance writer. Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.

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Reminder to Gov. Bill Ritter: You’re in charge. No fooling. So if you want to “strengthen partnerships with snowplow drivers, prison guards and the other men and women who make up the state work force,” as your spokesman says, then by all means, do so.

If they’re being overworked or mistreated, then put people in charge who’ll treat them right. If their suggestions and concerns are being ignored, find department heads who’ll listen to them.

If their initiatives are being suppressed, then do something about it.

What’s stopping you?

But your responsibility as governor is not mainly to state workers: It’s to all Colorado residents, including taxpayers who expect the most modern, efficient delivery of services that government can provide. At the moment, the state personnel system isn’t exactly known for its agility. In fact, it’s a dinosaur with some rules governing such matters as hiring, promoting and service contracts even written into the state constitution. That’s why as recently as three years ago the legislature referred a measure to voters to streamline and modernize the system. Unfortunately, an underfunded campaign doomed it at the polls.

And yet, governor, you seem positively eager to tie your management team’s hands still further by bolstering the influence and sway of public unions over the state’s work force. As this newspaper reported Wednesday, you’ve been hunkered down in a closed-door effort to fashion a bill that would bring collective bargaining to state government.

You sure you want to do this? Are you sure the state can’t be a good employer and “partner” without giving unions the keys to the kingdom?

Sure, some state workers have been feeling aggrieved since their wages were frozen for a while during the worst budget crunch at the Capitol since the Great Depression. But what else could lawmakers have done? You think private-sector workers get cost-of-living hikes when profits tank?

To be blunt, what will taxpayers get out of collective bargaining? Don’t forget to “strengthen partnerships” with them, too.

Quite a perk

We all know that corporate CEOs expect to get rich if they’re incompetent, and extremely rich if they’re good at what they do. That’s the American way, and a very pleasant way it is for those involved, thanks very much.

It was no surprise, in other words, that Qwest’s new CEO, Edward Mueller, recently was given a compensation package worth millions — and potentially many millions — over the coming years. And you’ll find no objection to it coming from this corner.

What is irritating, though, is an amendment to the agreement that allows Mueller’s stepdaughter to use the company jet to travel between Denver and California on a regular basis. It seems she’s still in school, so she and her mother will get to travel back and forth between California and Colorado through the end of next June.

“The amendment reflects a great appreciation for his family situation as his daughter wraps up her currrent schooling,” said a Qwest spokesman.

What the amendment reflects, in fact, is the grandiose sense of entitlement some corporate honchos unfortunately develop. Families moving to another job regularly deal with kids who must finish school, and Mueller’s wealth already allows him to handle the challenge better than most. But he insists on shifting every last dime of expense onto shareholders, who may wonder when their new chief will be demanding a full-time manservant and a scepter, too.

Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.

READER COMMENTS

I think Vince is anti-union

No wonder I can't get high speed internet at home, the funds are tied up in corporate jet rental/maintenance!

He makes a mockery of energy independence by helping to put the Vermillion and Roan out of bounds, he forefiets hugh energy related tax revenues that could be used for healthcare and education, he has commissions to tell him that kids should be able to read and write by the time they graduate and his health commission proposed an annual $26 billion (over $5,000 per capita per year) healthcare "solution...and now this guy is kissing the union right on the butt.

Ritter thinks that the time began when he was elected. He needs more times, information, data and "commissions" to tell him the obvious and is OK with $5 at the pump. And now he wants to put liberal union thugs in charge.

My guess is that it will not be the stockholder’s who are picking up the tab Qwest’s new CEO, Edward Mueller extravagant expense account, it will be the worker’s that he lays off to maintain shareholder value and meet wall street expectations.

You voted for him Colorado - this is what happens when you have a Democrat Governor.

Destroy those evil unions! All praise the oligarchy! "Boobus Americanus" is alive and well.

Mr. Carroll and the other Ritter lap dogs in the news media had ample opportunity to expose Bill 'Slick Willie' Ritter for the fraud and liar he was and is. But as they did with Roy Romer, when he was having sex with B.J. Thornberry for more than a decade, they did with Ritter - they looked the other way and denied any responsibility or accountability. There are many reasons for why the Rocky Mountain News is losing money - Vincent Carroll is one of the top ten. You should be so proud that you inflicted Bill 'Slick Willie' Ritter on the taxpayer. Perhaps you should be made financially responsible for his antics.

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