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WYSO's coverage of the 2011 Election

Info On Salaries Of Public Employees Raises New Questions

Data on how much money state and local public employees make has been online for a while. But Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler reports that data is getting a lot of new attention thanks to a link on a state officeholder's website.

Treasurer Josh Mandel says he wants Ohioans to see what kind of salaries state and local public employees are making.

“This is something that I’ve talked about for many years, and you know we took office in January and have been working to bring it to fruition,” says Mandel.

The treasurer’s site links to the database put up in April 2010 on the website of the conservative Buckeye Institute. Brian Rothenberg with the liberal coalition Progress Ohio applauds the move toward transparency, but he’s also concerned.

“I think it’s appropriate to put this information on line. I question the motivation behind it,” says Rothenberg.

The Buckeye Institute has used some of that data in advocating for collective bargaining reform. The Republican Mandel hasn’t taken a public stand on Issue 2, which Rothenberg opposes. But Mandel says the decision to put the data on his site isn’t political.