Vice mayor: The majority of the city’s budget is spent on people — that’s a good thing | Opinion

“New employee raises double Sacramento’s budget crisis,” (sacbee.com, Jan. 25)

The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board contends that city leadership cares “more about worker raises than the public.” This attempt to pit us against one another fails to recognize that workers are our community.

The vast majority of the city’s budget is spent on people — and that’s a good thing. These are the people that provide the services we all rely upon. It’s these workers that wake up before dawn to pick up your trash and trim the trees. It’s these workers that pull 12-hour shifts to prevent catastrophic flooding.

At the end of the day, many go home to Sacramento. Hiring and retention is challenging because it is easy to find jobs in our region that pay better. So, yes, we value those who choose to stay and serve.

Next time you see your neighbors, remember they could be city workers and they deserve to feed their families, too.

Vice Mayor Caity Maple

Sacramento