Apparently, I have somehow missed a recent Bothell City Council decision to reimburse our city manager for “his cost” of acquiring a master’s degree.

I totally agree with Paul Cowles (former Bothell mayor) in the belief that the cost is a lifelong benefit to the one obtaining the advanced degree, and the taxpayers of Bothell shouldn’t be expected to pay for a city employee to obtain an elevated education.

As a 36-year retired employee of a (Fortune 500 company), I can relate how some large firms (my former employer included) will partially reimburse employees for educational expenses, provided the courses are directly related to their line of work, and which shall provide the potential for increased knowledge and efficiency in their chosen field.

If the Bothell taxpayers reimburse this employee 100 percent for his cost of his master’s degree, then six months later, he “bolts” for to Santa Cruz, for better money, where are we? To be truly fair with this, the City Council members should (I believe with the wisdom of Solomon) pro-rate his reimbursement expenses. As his new master’s degree is “good for life,” it also came with a total cost. I suggest we divide his cost of the higher degree, by the number of years until he is eligible, and reimburse him that yearly percentage for every year he stays employed by the city of Bothell. The more “benefit” the city of Bothell receives (years of service), the more money it reimburses our city manager for his investment in himself. This is simply a business-like method of protecting company paid assets.

We are all painfully aware that this is an extremely difficult time for many taxpayers, and our chosen leaders need to recognize this, and set good examples.

M. Williams