According to an analysis by the Post, the number of local officials making $200,000 or more has exploded the past few years. Martin Briley, the Prince William County economic development director, makes $234,000; Bruce Romer, Montgomery County’s chief administration officer, pulls in $208,000. They aren’t alone. D.C. superintendent Clifford Janey and Prince George’s County’s Andre Hornsby top the list of school officials salaries in the region at $250,000, not including performance-related bonuses and deferred benefits.
While some may balk at the high salaries, local jurisdictions contend that higher salaries translate into high-quality officials, officials who would be difficult to replace. We just wished that blogging translated into such high salaries.
From the Post:
“If a bus hit [Fairfax County Executive] Tony Griffin tomorrow and we had to go out for a search, we would be hard-pressed to find someone to apply for the amount we’re paying Tony,” [Penelope Gross, a Fairfax County supervisor] said.
Many other salaries are nearly $200,000. Take D.C.’s Metropolitan Police chief, Charles Ramsey, or Fairfax’s Griffin, who oversees a $2.5 billion budget and 11,000 employees, for example. Ramsey makes a cool $175,000 and Griffin makes about $195,000, not including $14,000 in deferred compensation and benefits. The most surprising point the article made was that these prices are comparatively a bargain.
Other figures you might find interesting are that one lieutenant in the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department earned $83,364 in overtime this year, $10,000 more than than his base salary of $72,173 for a combined total of $155,000. But most people say that they are not in it for the money. We guess that explains why D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams comes in on the low end with a salary of $145,000. But if we were in any of their positions you wouldn’t see us complaining. The only question left unanswered in our minds is, how do we become a local official and when do we start making the big bucks?
