National Night Out: Your Tax Dollars At Work

Matt A Peskin, the man who created National Night Out (coming up Tuesday, Aug. 7 in a neighborhood near you) is paid a salary of $255,000 plus $42,000 in benefits to oversee an organization with just one full-time employee. Part of his salary is supported by a federal grant. In other words you pay for it. There's no evidence that neighborhood watch groups spawned by Peskin's organization prevent crime. There's some evidence that it makes people feel better about their neighbors. Worth it? Read the Philadelphia Inquirer's story and decide.