LETTER: Pay increase for state investment officer is disgraceful

Talk about it

To the Editor:

I am amazed, aghast and angry that the man who oversees the South Dakota pension fund will have 4.8 percent of his reduced salary restored. The 5 percent reduction he suffered (though how can you suffer with the many South Dakota salary dollars he receives?) was experienced by all departments as near as I recall. Are we to believe all of those 5 percent cutbacks will be restored? What justifies the restoration? Times were tough when the budget cuts were made; times are tough now and prospects are not good for the future.

There also remains the quandary that when our state retirement fund makes money, the director of said account sometime receives an added bonus on top of any yearly salary increase, and yet when the fund loses money, his compensation is not affected. I believe he has even received a bonus or commendation for “trying really hard.”

We’re in for a hot summer and the wool our governor and legislative leaders are pulling over our eyes will be hard to handle. I’m disgusted that they think we’re so dumb.

Tags: opinion, updates, letters, state, capitol