EDITORIAL BLEEDING TAXPAYERS SALARIES FOR PUBLIC-SECTOR EXECUTIVES HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF HAND.

ROGER Snoble has joined the ranks of the not-so-few, the proud and the outrageously well-paid - L.A. government officials.

As the new chief executive officer of the troubled Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Snoble will earn a whopping compensation package worth $347,000 a year, including $295,000 in salary, making him the highest-paid public official in Los Angeles city or county.

For now, anyway.

While local governments struggle to keep basic services running, they have little problem ratcheting up the salaries of their top executives. Snoble has set a standard that every other department in city and county government will now try to top.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Roy Romer was the previous top money-maker, raking in $250,000 a year plus as much as $100,000 in bonuses.

And he has plenty of company. Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, Sheriff Lee Baca, county Department of Health Services Director Mark Finucane, Harbor Department Executive Director Larry Keller and L.A. World Airports Executive Director Lydia Kennard all earn more than $200,000 a year.

The outlandish salaries don't stop at the top. When the chief executive is paid exorbitantly, his subordinates soon demand - and get - more. Some MTA bus drivers make as much as $75,000 a year.

For that much money, the public has a right to expect a tremendous return.

Snoble will collect a salary twice as high as that of his predecessor, Julian Burke. He'll need to move mountains - turn the MTA into a well-run, worthwhile outfit - to prove he's worth it.