Mayors New Executive Assistant Will Cost Taxpayers $75,187.09 A Year
Thursday, April 26, 2012 @ 1:48 AM
Prince George– Mayor Shari Green’s new executive assistant will cost the taxpayers $75,187.09 in 2013 according to an FOI request from city hall, requested by Opinion 250.
Bev Smith the new executive assistant to Mayor Green will be paid $57,792.09 in 2013, along with a benefit package worth a further $17,395.00 for a total of $75,187.09.
At the time Smith was hired, Mayor Green said she would be earning between $56,000 and 57,000.00 dollars a year. She did not add in the cost of benefits at that time.
Smith was hired as the new executive assistant to Mayor Green and began work in April of this year.
When we raised the matter of how the benefit package was broken down, we were asked to submit a further e-mail laying out the questions we wanted answered.
Based on a total salary and benefit package of $75,187.9, Smith will be earning about $36.00 an hour.
Comments
Good gig! Nice to have friends in high places.
omfg
omfg
better give more blood at the donor clinic cause your people of pg are bleeding out with your bullshit. Sell any candles lately cause mine is burning at both ends keeping up with you bullshit
how many potholes would 75k fill?
This is so typical of Opinion 250….stepping over bodies in our community to take a cheap shot at the Mayor. No wonder she won’t talk to you!
@pgiscrazy. If the mayor and council would be honest with the citizens. Opinion250 wouldnt have to do this. Thanks opinion 250 and employees
Keep up the good work Ben. pgiscrazy it is official, your a wingnut !!
Right now this kind of stuff just feels so unimportant. Don’t get me wrong…I know we have to take our civic leaders to task over decisions they make but…it just feels wrong right now….
Might be just me…..
opinion 250 briefly posted this story days ago and it was removed, no doubt, because of the tragedy at Lakeland Mill. The city of PG ( Kristy Brown ) were qiuck to tell us that everything is okay with the now useless district heating system. I read somewhere the city just applied to borrow $4 million more to finish the project. Yes the Lakeland tragedy is foremost in our hearts and minds but we also can’t forget that our Mayor and city managers live in a world far removed from reality.
Are you sure these figures are for 2013 and not 2012?
One possible reason that Shari failed think of the additional costs related to a benefit package- employees of a knickknack store can only dream of something like a medical, dental or pension plan, so costs go on the books as minimum wage + or – a buck or two.
BTW I concur with middle finger, this story was posted for a short while Monday but pulled out of respect.
As for the mayor not talking to O250, the posted stories would pass all journalistic standards but some of the comments cut a little closer to the bone. These comments reflect a certain amount of dissatisfaction in the community and circling the wagons is not a good tactic this early in her term. If you want to play with the big kids Shari you had better grow some thicker skin and meet issues head on rather than insulating yourself behind a communications talking head or a personal assistant. The response to the AAP is further proof that the taxpayer is getting close to the edge.
Let’s see: Cost of a new assistant, a Nissane Leaf electric car, Nissan Leaf charging station….close to $200k!
FORT WORTH – A little truck creeping down Bonnie Brae Avenue might not look too special. But then, it sticks out its mechanical arm with a nozzle attached to the end.
It blasts a pothole clean, like a giant leaf blower, then sprays it full with a tacky aggregate mixture. The machine moves from pothole to pothole, blowing and spitting, sometimes spending no more than 20 seconds on a patch.
Meet the new king of the asphalt jungle. It’s the RA 400 VORTEC automated patcher.
“I believe it’s the only model in North Texas,” said Fort Worth street superintendent Stan Phillips. “We’re pleased to have it.”
Fort Worth tested one back in 2010. Phillips said the patches are still holding. That’s a lot stronger than temporary patches laid down by traditional two or three person crews, who are sometimes shoveling 300-degree mix in 110-degree heat.
The automated patcher requires just one, air-conditioned operator, working a joystick.
“Right now, they’re getting about a thousand potholes a week with this machine right here,” Phillips said.
Because of all the recent rain, Phillips expects close to 200,000 potholes on Fort Worth roads this year.
The machine cost about $190,000, but Phillips said if it frees up workers for other jobs, and reduces vehicle damage caused by potholes, “It will pretty much pay for itself.”
Right now it’s the only one. But after just five weeks on the streets, Stan Phillips is so pleased that he’d like to buy more….
$27,395.00 in benefits? Holy crap. I can’t wait to see what she’s getting.
“I read somewhere the city just applied to borrow $4 million more to finish the project.”
Hopefully that is just a rumour! Just half of that amount would buy a whole fleet of pothole patching machines plus a few new garbage trucks…
Shouldn’t it be
$57,792.09 plus $27,395.00 for a total of $85,187.09.
“$27,395.00 in benefits? Holy crap. I can’t wait to see what she’s getting.”
An assistant to the executive assistant…. ;-)
“An assistant to the executive assistant”……….. organ grinder gets a monkey:-P Another act in the little Dog and Pony show on Patricia Blvd.
LOL 27,395.00 in benefits? Good thing you folks can read.
thank you for pointing out my adding error. that should read 17,395.00 in benefits not 27,395.00 I have changed the figure.
Because the new worker did not start work until April I used the next full year to calculate the amount.
My apologies
Prince George:
At the start of the week a machine just like the one you speak of was working on hi-ways 16&97.
You can take it as rumour if you wish.
@middle finger
I think YRB has a machine that will tar cracks in the roads but not patch potholes. There is no aggregate in the mix merely a few pebbles on top to prevent tar from sticking to tires as it cools.
IMO I could see the assistant and her costs come in to replace the defunct mayor and her costs. The savings could go a long way to repair our crumbling infastructure.
@lonesome sparrow
Correct. It is YRB”s machine and that is basically what it does. Seems to work well for the little problem here, little problem there application.For a pot-holed, destroyed street, probably not so much.
I will agree with PG though, the machine could be of more use than a Nissan Leaf.
Most full-time jobs (especially union positions) incur an additional 25-30% cost in benefits for the employer over the basic wage, so these benefits are not out of line. If this is a union position, then the City has to pay based on the union contract. If it’s not a union position, and is considered a “professional” position, with extensive qualifications required, then again the salary is not too out of line. However, if neither of these conditions apply then keep poking and asking questions.
~8 bucks an hour in benefits? Wow.
“If this is a union position, then the City has to pay based on the union contract”
This is an excluded position due to the nature of the job. It is normal for excluded postions to get at least union benefits as well as salaries/wages and more.
@meisner
You must of changed the figure after some of the others posted.
It did look a little strange.
Payroll overhead costs are a fact of life … at City Hall, at JJ Springer, at the gas station down the street and at the offices of Opinion250.com. Are any of you able to point to a public announcement of someone’s salary that includes them? Prizes will be awarded to the successful responders.
I’ll wait patiently.
“Payroll overhead costs are a fact of life … at City Hall, at JJ Springer, at the gas station down the street and at the offices of Opinion250.com. Are any of you able to point to a public announcement of someone’s salary that includes them? Prizes will be awarded to the successful responders.”
I’m not sure what you’re getting at? No one said anything about “payroll overhead”? The story says “benefits”. Two completely different beasts.
Letâs start with the president of the Royal Bank, Nova Scotia, most companies that offer stock options to their presidents, people sitting on boards who earn a dollar but get, stock options.
But how about those thousands of people in Prince George that donât have a benefit package that pay taxes, donât you think they would like to know just how much it is castling for an executive e assistant.
Just what does the new Executive Assistant to Mayor Green cost the taxpayers, over 75 thousand a year. Please try not to make chocolates out of rabbit tirds.
sorry should have been costing for an executive assistant
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at? No one said anything about “payroll overhead”? The story says “benefits”. Two completely different beasts.”
The story is wrong. That’s what I’m getting at. The woman will not “earn” $36 per hour. She will cost The City $36 per hour.
The difference is significant. Rather like the difference between ignorance and stupidity. The editor is well aware of the additional costs incurred by employers.
Will it cost the taxpayerâs 56-57 thousand to have her work at city hall or 75 k. who will pay the differenceâ¦? Robin Hood?
I do hope some of you don’t own your own company because you won’t be owning it very long.
This is market value of a person in such a position. No job ever posts a dollar amount to how much one gets in benefits (ie dental, medical etc.) so I find this to be over the top on media reporting. An elected mayor always faces infinitely more media scrutiny than the council. It is important for persons to recognize that the council votes as a whole governing body of the city of Prince George. This is not a one man show or 1 lady show if I may. This is not out of the ordinary for the mayor to have an assistant. Itâs much more beneficial for the community to support someone in a role as she is in your local government, it shows you have a strong community and will in turn provide your community with extra funding through provincial and federal bodies. If your community is at constant odds and bringing the community into the unnecessary public eye by trying to unleash your distaste for your elected officials, it will in turn only harm your community. Way more beneficial to everyone of your community to manage your disgruntled feelings and deal with only the issues that are of pertinent information opposed to the issues of innuendo. Donât forget this is normal for this type of industry.
“The story is wrong. That’s what I’m getting at. The woman will not “earn” $36 per hour. She will cost The City $36 per hour.
The difference is significant. Rather like the difference between ignorance and stupidity. The editor is well aware of the additional costs incurred by employers. “
She will indeed “earn” approximately $75,000 a year in wages and benefits but she will cost the city more then that if you factor in the overhead costs of her employment.
The story is simply reporting the direct calculable costs of her employment.
Holy crap!
“She will indeed “earn” approximately $75,000 a year in wages and benefits but she will cost the city more then that if you factor in the overhead costs of her employment.
The story is simply reporting the direct calculable costs of her employment.”
Really? Have the city responded to the request for additional information concerning the details of the “benefits” package?
Perhaps we’ll be surprised to learn that $75K is the sum total of her salary, holiday pay, medical/dental and other benefits and all of the payroll loading expense required, including WCB and the employer’s share of her EI and CPP contributions.
If I’m wrong, I’ll print this page and eat it.
Salary and benefits are 2 different things. To separate them for this story would indicate somebody is trying to rally the troops. And from some of the comments on this blog, they have succeeded.
billm, you are out to lunch in your analogy. Some of you may be surprised at what companies currently pay for YOUR benefits.
Karo
It would go a long way to getting to where you wished this to go if this City were to publish information the way that the City of Toronto does.
http://www.toronto.ca/city_council/councillor_budgets.htm
The City of Toronto Council’s – including the Mayor and Councilors – office, salaries and expense budgets are all posted, including office expense reports, donations to Council members, policies, as well as Council Handbook.
Why is that? Because Ontario created an Act a few years ago requiring that level of accountability.
It will come here to, eventually. In the meantime, we have to struggle to figure things out because this City and some others in the province are simply belligerent and feel that such oversight by the citizens is not what âtransparencyâ is all about. They still like us to have to pull the curtain aside and try to sneak a peek every now and then.
So as you say “If your community is at constant odds and bringing the community into the unnecessary public eye by trying to unleash your distaste for your elected officials, it will in turn only harm your community” …..
let me turn that around a bit: If your elected officials are at constant odds and bringing the community into the unnecessary public eye by trying to unleash their disdain for its citizens, it will in turn only harm your community.”
It is the City that needs to act and do their duty the way modern cities ought to. They ought to see that the writing is on the wall.
Mr. Popular wrote: “2-positions were merged into one. This new one job alone is $20,000 less than the sole cost of Roger’s secretary. Did O250 report this? Of course not.”
Listen, Mr, Popular. If the City would simplify the reporting of its business costs by department and do it as Toronto is required to do, this sort of scrutiny would not happen. It would be simple to compare the budget for operating the full Council, Mayor, Councilors, assistants and all for each year for sya the last 10 years or wahtever someone might want to have a look at and see what has happened over time.
As it is, that virtually takes a Masters Thesis by an investigative journalist student. THAT should NOT have to happen!!!!!!
“Perhaps we’ll be surprised to learn that $75K is the sum total of her salary, holiday pay, medical/dental and other benefits and all of the payroll loading expense required, including WCB and the employer’s share of her EI and CPP contributions.”
I will be extremely surprised if payroll loading is included as a benefit.
http://www.kelowna.ca/CM/Page3719.aspx
That is a link to the City of Kelowna’s budget for 2012.
I defy anyone of finding a page on Prince Georgeâs web site that has as much information on about our Cityâs budget and is as easy to locate.
Here is the budget for the Mayor and Council.
http://www.kelowna.ca/CityPage/Docs/PDFs//Financial%20Services%20Division/Previous%20Year's%20Financial%20Plans/2012%20Financial%20Plan/D-City%20Administration.pdf
I suspect the information is available for PG …. but one has to dig, dig, and keep on digging to find it.
Here is the pae one gets, for instance, when one clicks on the “financial information link that shows up on the left of the home page.
http://www.princegeorge.ca/cityservices/finance/Pages/default.aspx
The lates budget meetings recorded there are for 2009 ….
There are multi year financial plans for 2012-2016 and earlier …. labelled “provisional”. How long will they be provisional for 2012? of
Page 28 shows a proposed budget $871,698 for 2012. The actual expenses for 2011 was $585,900.
So, what gives? That is a 48.7% increase. What has changed?
Karo? Mr. Popular? …. come on, put your “excuse” hats on as best as you can and respond with some credible information.
Middlefinger, you are correct about the pothole patching machine. YRB seems to have one, I recall seeing it in use last year or the year before that. The mixture used is different for crack sealing and actual filling in of large potholes.
The City, however, appears to have an incurable aversion against this kind of time and labour saving 21st century preventive maintenance and repair method!
West Austin Road is a nightmare of pothellish proportions, as is Croft Road! Old method patches last a few days, then the suspension busters are back again! There are a few craters in front of the Birchwood Shopping Center as well!
NO money is saved if every pothole patched the old fashioned has to be re-visited a few days later over and over again!
One would think that they keep a record and calculate the actual repeat costs versus longer lasting modern methods!
Alas, it sure doesn’t look that way!
Hope the electric Nissan doesn’t fall apart rightaway when it attempts to transverse one of the numerous cratered roads, like 15th, 18th and so forth!
BTW, for those of you whop have not clicked through to some or all of my links, the City of Kelowan Mayor and Council budget for 2011 was $579,277 and for 2012 is $561,280, a 3.1% decrease ……
So, we were on par in 2011 ….. and then came 2012!!!!
Again, it needs an explanation and I do not have one. The City ought to have one though and they need very badly to share that with the community.
Let’s get this back down to an apples to apples comparison if we can.
Their operating program is based on 9.6 FTE. I do not think we even have that info in our budget statements.
“I will be extremely surprised if payroll loading is included as a benefit.”
You missed the point. This “publication” declared the additional expense a benefit package. They further declared that they’ve asked City Hall for some details regarding said package.
They’ve gone quiet. Rather odd, considering their continuous slagging of everybody within 10 kilometres of this issue. I’ll say it again – the actual annual cost of this employee has been stated correctly. Salary, benefits and payroll loading are all included.
Shall we wait patiently for Mr. Meisner to correct me?
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