You don’t get a raise for failing at work. Why should politicians?

No, really.

Why should we allow politicians to take the position that we can’t hold them accountable for progress on basic issues such as lowering crime rates, reducing street homelessness, creating the new housing we need and cleaning up our blighted streets?

Right now, San Jose’s elected officials receive essentially automatic raises set by an independent body. Independence is good. Automatic raises — much less so.

The “No Raises Without Results” plan now before the City Council says that a small percentage of any future raises for politicians and top staff will be based on quantifiable and verified results on core issues. Opponents argue that it would be difficult to do. The fact that they feel empowered to make that very argument proves the need to adopt the measure.

Leaders are elected to do difficult things, not say “that’s too hard” when the going gets tough.

This reform plan has been nearly two years in the making, in part because we have taken the time to get it right by establishing clear benchmarks and creating the data dashboards that will show progress, or the lack of it.

The data is in place. Now we need a basic level of ongoing accountability.

The first benchmarks we will use to hold ourselves accountable will be based on independently verifiable public data — tracking priorities like fewer shootings, more housing units, lower 311 call volumes for abandoned vehicles or illegal dumping, and more jobs in underserved areas. Our pay-for-performance model will use this independent data to set reasonable annual targets and reward collaboration and problem-solving, not short-term politics.

The opponents make the false claim that tying raises to results doesn’t work in government. But that argument ignores a basic truth: When there’s no connection between rewards and results, accountability erodes.

San Jose residents are paying the price for a local government that too often underperforms with no consequences for the politicians in charge.

Importantly, accountability in government has worked.

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In New York, data-driven programs like CompStat contributed to dramatic reductions in crime. And, in fact, since California voters approved a law that prevented state elected officials from being paid when they couldn’t pass a budget, our state budgets have always been on time. Opponents argue that the politicians used “tricks” to pass the budget, ignoring the fact that disruptions to government services due to budget gridlock are no longer the norm.

The politicians seeking to avoid ongoing accountability say they are held accountable at the ballot box. That is sometimes true. But with this proposal we don’t have to wait four years to hold leaders accountable for dirty streets, homeless encampments, high housing costs and preventable crimes.

The opponents also say they don’t want to “politicize” the process of pay. But that is exactly the opposite of what the “No Raises Without Results” plan does. We are working to reduce the highly political system of pressure and rewards that cause too many politicians to respond to special interests, donors and other political incentives — rather than prioritizing the needs of residents.

Under this proposal we require elected officials to think every day about how to actually address our issues, not just about their donors, the special interests, the next headline and their social media followers.

San Jose’s residents aren’t asking for miracles.

They’re asking for competence and results. A modest performance incentive — just 5% — won’t bankrupt anyone. But it will remind our public servants that the people who pay their salaries want better performance, not more political excuses.

George Casey is a San Jose city councilmember representing District 10.