Jeph Burroughs-Scanlon, Sanders’ communications coordinator, makes $49,003. Calvin Williford, Sanders’ former campaign manager and current chief of communications, makes $115,003.20.
Sanders hired two senior transition advisers this year to smooth the transfer of county governance from Katheryn Shields’ administration to his own. Anita Maltbia makes $60,008. Larry Blick made the same as Maltbia until last April, when his position was phased to part time; now he makes about $30,000.
Remember Joan Dickey, Shields’ administrative assistant – whom Shields fired after Dickey was pictured in the Independence Examiner celebrating at Sanders’ primary campaign party? Dickey now makes $50,000 as a logistics and resource supervisor.
Jim Nunnelly, administrator of the COMBAT anti-drug program, makes $90,563.
Sanders himself makes $108,014. His Intergovernmental Relations and Communications department has a budget of $614,418. For comparison, the budget for this same department in 2006 was $198,235.
Burroughs-Scanlon tells the Pitch that the budget and job cuts Sanders is requesting will affect every county department. “The executive office will be a part of the same cut,” he says. – Nadia Pflaum
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Hey Nadia, these people are correct in what they are saying. Please just call us at the county and we'll show you the flow chart, etc. Thanks.
Nadia, you are incorrect, but I now understand why. You are comparing apples to oranges. The previous administration (2006 and before) showed (on paper only) a smaller budget for the department because a number of the employees were listed/hidden (once again, on paper) in other budgets/departments (like Parks or road and bridge), when in reality they really worked as PR-type employees (thus, Shields was able to "hide" the actual number of people she had working as PR types). The next administration decided to (novel concept) put all of the employees of this department together on paper so it would be apparent the number of people there were in the county actually doing this work. Thus, it appears on paper that there was a big increase, when in reality it was just the new crew putting everyone in the same budget category (where they belong). Aside: the actual amount of money the county spends on PR types, etc., actually went DOWN on 2007 from years before (not up). Once again, nothing nefarious, in fact, quite the opposite.
Guys, I got these numbers from the county's published budget here:
http://www.jacksongov.org/CoBu...
But if I'm wrong, I'm happy to correct it.
Agreed Joe. The real story, that no one has really written to date, is how in the hell did the county wide up so far in the hole? I read in the Star that the county must cut $7 mil to balance the books, and find $55 mil to make up for the shortfall in retirement account funding Shields left. $62 f-in million dollars?! What the fuck folks!
Nadia is usually much better than this. That "department" didn't even exist in 2006.
Maybe the Pitch should try doing some actual work again, and report on the real reasons why there is a budget crisis in the first place: intentional overspending by the previous county exec who hates Sanders' guts. Take even a casual glance at the county audit for '06 and tell me there isn't something criminal there. Finance head honcho Gloria Fisher engineered a cover up of the cash flow crisis in October '06 when she "borrowed" over $3 million taxpayer dollars from the restricted COMBAT tax. Tell me that is legal. Tell me it's kosher to just "put off" $1 million in bills from '06 so your hated adversary has to pay them for you in '07. Now real people are about to lose their jobs because of this inherited dreck, and all the Pitch can do is shoot the messenger? Please!
You two are correct. I am a person that works in thta department, and all that happened in 07 was the people that actually worked in that department were moved into the same category. Before then, some of our people were hidden in different departments. However, we now as an office have fewere people than before.
I'm aware that the budget for Intergovernmental Relations and Communications was, in fact, reduced from 06 to 07. On that point, you are correct and Nadia was wrong. However, I thought the piece wasn't meant to be negative, just informational.
Nadia, not true. The budget for the office of intergovernmantal affairs was hidden by Shields by hiding employees in other budgets that actually worked in that department. The actual number of employees working in Gov Relations, and budget, is less now, than in 06. It's just that all of the people got moved on paper into the department they actually work in. Your mag has tried this line before, and I am surprised that you once again seem to untruthfully imply that the County is somehow padding its departments at the little guy's expense. Just thought you'd like to know the actual facts.
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