I was thinking this too. But the other side of the coin is that if unpaid, then only persons who can afford to "not have a job" will be able to get these positions. Sure, they are not 9-5, 5-day a weeks jobs(well, thy really aren't but they try to make you think they are), so you could have a real job, but if your employer didn't like the interferance, then a "public" job may not be a feasible addition to your workload. On a local level, I think "public" boards such as this should be volunteer and no pay. Concerning other officials, both county, State and national, I think they should only be paid the average per-capita income.