Regarding salary listings for Butler County and Warren County public employees: The article may convey some correct data, but (is) erroneous information, and is irresponsible reporting. Newspaper articles should contain responsible and complete information, not biased facts made to look like information.

Providing only top salaries does not give a true picture of public salaries. Incomplete statistics can be made to say whatever the writer wishes it to say, depending on the sample of statistics used. What did the compiler of this data intend to say? If the excuse is, “That is the data we were given,” that is not good reporting. Don’t take everything at face value.

In these days, with the new legislature (concerned about) public workers’ pay, listing the top salaries as “Salary listings for Butler and Warren County public employees” will only incite anger against public workers.

Nowhere in the article does it say that these are just top salaries above $60,000. Most people skimming this article will just look at the headline, notice all the high numbers, will think that all public employees in Butler and Warren counties are represented, and that all public workers are making this kind of money. It compounds the problem because sample criteria is not noted. The salaries of the people listed are a small, but very biased, sample of public workers.

More responsible reporting would state the number of workers for each public category (whether it be county, city or township government, welfare, education, transportation, etc., hourly vs. salaried) at each income level: zero to $10,000, $20,000-$30,000, $30,000-$40,000, $40,000-$50,000, $50,000-$60,000, $60,000-$70,000, $70,000-$80,000, $80,000-$90,000, $90,000-$100,000, $100,000-$125,000, $125,000-$150,000, and more than $150,000.

This would display an accurate demographic of “Salary listings for Butler and Warren County public employees,” and would probably prove that the average pay is probably not even $60,000, which is the lowest salary listed in these statistics. Remember that aides, secretaries, janitors, crossing guards, kitchen help, etc., are also public workers.

Barb Schimming

Liberty Twp.