Miami-Dade County is an open book. Every salary of every employee is public record and available for anyone to view. There are no salary secrets.

I made a decision -- more than a year ago -- to adjust the salaries of a select few members of my senior staff to ensure pay equity with other government employees with comparable responsibilities. I stand by these decisions. It was a matter of fairness, impartiality and common sense.

Those who received pay adjustments are hardworking individuals who took on additional responsibilities as we transitioned to a new form of government. The salary adjustments were personnel decisions, not personal ones, and I have nothing to gain.

More importantly, the total budget and number of employees in the County Executive Office has been decreasing. The proposed budget is nearly $2 million dollars and 20 employees leaner than it was five years ago when I first entered public office. There are fewer people doing more with less.

While salaries are an emotional issue, the numbers themselves don't tell the whole story. Experience, education, and scope of responsibilities are all factors in determining the appropriate salary range for an individual. There are occasions where making select salary adjustments make sense, and imposing rigid rules banning any changes in personnel status is counterproductive.

Additionally, when salaries are public (and even when they are not), parity is important. Nothing engenders ill will in the workplace more than two people with identical responsibilities, but great disparities in pay.

In the current economic climate and as our Board of County Commissioners get set to tackle some very difficult budget decisions, executive pay has understandably become a lightning rod issue. In many ways, it has also become an overriding distraction. No matter how you run the numbers, punishing executives and pointing fingers at those at the top won't even come close to filling our $427 million budget gap.

Sincerely,

Mayor Carlos Alvarez