Only in California: the Case of the $312k Executive Assistant to the Mayor
[guest post by JVW]
One thing about smaller regional newspapers is that they tend to be shrewd enough to focus on covering local stories and local governments. Large metropolitan newspapers oftentimes aspire to be national publications, and thus spill an inordinate amount of ink covering the various ins and outs in Washington. When I lived in Boston, The Boston Globe was the pretentious, elitist lefty broadsheet who had a DC bureau and pompous columnists who wanted to pontificate upon the national scene. The Boston Herald, by contrast, styled itself as the working class tabloid who zeroed in on local stories and gossip and delighted in poking the bubble of the stuffy and pedantic Globe. As an analogy, the Globe was Beantown’s New York Times (indeed, the Times eventually bought the Globe) whereas the Herald was the Hub’s version of The New York Post. In my years there, while the Globe was busy inveighing against New Gingrich’s obstructionism to the Clinton agenda, the Herald could be counted on to investigate stories about crooked local politicians and public employees who were scamming the system. As much as the Boston Brahmins sneered at the provincialism of the local tabloid, it served a valuable purpose in the body politic.
Out here among the palm trees and traffic snarls, the Southern California News Group serves a similar purpose. While the Los Angeles Times (derisively known here as the Dog Trainer; this is Patterico’s first recorded use of the term for blog historians) styles itself as a major regional newspaper, covering Sacramento and the Pacific Rim (the Dog Trainer had to abandon its hopes of being a national newspaper once the industry began to crumble ten years ago), the SCNG has managed to stay in business largely by focusing on issues important to the communities that they serve. The local SCNG paper in my neck of the woods, The Daily Breeze, won a Pulitzer Prize three years ago for uncovering the story about the school superintendent in the small, poor school district who was making $633,000 per year thanks to machinations on his end. And earlier this week a reporter from the Pasadena Star News, another SCGN paper, reported on another taxpayer-funded employee who has won big in the system:
A former campaign worker for Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts lifted her fortunes after following him to City Hall as his assistant in 2011, rebounding from a personal bankruptcy to a position that earned her $312,000 in total compensation last year.
Melanie McDade-Dickens, who served as Butts’ office manager during his first campaign for mayor, is now one of the highest paid employees in his administration. Her total pay skyrocketed from from $73,850 in 2013 to $245,436 last year, according to data obtained from Transparent California, a database of public salaries.
If you go to the Inglewood page on the Transparent California site, you will see that Ms. McDade-Dickens is only the nineteenth highest-paid city employee in terms of combined salary and benefits, but that’s mostly because she ranks behind twelve members of the police department on whose behalf the city is apparently providing some pretty hefty health and retirement benefits. When only pay is considered, Ms. McDade-Dickens leaps up to eleventh on the list. Her official title is “Executive Assistant to the Mayor and City Manager,” and here are the job titles of the people who rank ahead of her in pay: City Manager; Assistant City Manager; Police Chief; Police Lieutenant; Police Sergeant; City Attorney; and Director of Parks, Recreation, and Library Services. Her total compensation for 2017 includes a base salary of $170,569, no overtime pay, $74,867 in “other pay” which reportedly includes a $14,706 bonus she received in January 2017, and $66,627 in health and retirement benefits.
So what are the good people of Inglewood, population approximately 110,000 and median income roughly $45,000, getting for that $312,000 investment? Let’s get back to the article (all emphasis here is added by me):
McDade-Dickens’ title changed from senior assistant to executive assistant in 2016, but city officials argue her responsibilities have dramatically increased beyond her title. Butts said her duties were previously handled by an assistant city manager, deputy city manager and executive assistant.
“This position was created to perform duties formerly done by the three vacant positions as well as serve as Director of Parking and Management Services Division (also vacant) and the Director of the Office of Emergency Management,” Butts said in an email.
“The position also supervises the Administrative Clerical staff. She coordinates major city events, prepares and presents staff reports to the City Council. She serves as needed in the absence of an Assistant City Manager.”
None of those duties was reflected in a job description for the position of executive assistant to the mayor and city manager that, until recently. was last updated in January on Inglewood’s website.
On May 24, the online job description listed qualifications and experience for a secretarial position — five years of experience supporting elected officials, a proficiency with Microsoft Office and a valid driver’s license. The duties included managing calendars, screening communications and greeting visitors.
Hours later, after city officials were contacted by a Southern California News Group reporter asking about McDade-Dickens, a new job description was uploaded to the website, according to the document’s metadata, the forensic information embedded within a file.
The revised job description, allegedly from October 2017, includes many of the same duties but also contains new ones, such as overseeing the parking program and coordinating the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, among others. The job now requires a bachelor’s degree, five years of experience supporting elected officials and a driver’s license. It does not require any experience in leading departments at a public agency.
What was Ms. McDade-Dickens doing before she assumed this very lucrative and prestigious position? Well, in 2010 she served as the office manager for then-candidate James T. Butts’s mayoral campaign. Once he was sworn-in in January of 2011, she followed him to city hall as his assistant. The Transparent California website only has data dating back to 2013 so we don’t know what her starting salary was, but her pay for 2013 was $73,850 and her benefits were worth $61,219. In other words, over a five-year period Ms. McDade-Dickens saw her benefits grow by a modest 8.8% while her pay grew by an unbelievable 332%. Did she get her alleged promotions by emerging as the most qualified candidate among a regional search? Don’t count on it:
Both Butts and [City Manager Artie] Fields said McDade-Dickens was selected for her new role through a competitive recruitment process. Fields later clarified that the process was for internal candidates only. The city manager declined to provide the applications for the position, claiming they are personnel records.
Fields made the final decision to promote McDade-Dickens from senior assistant to executive assistant, he said. He subsequently chose to assign her responsibility for the parking and emergency management programs, a move that resulted in a significant pay bump.
“There was no selection process in 2017 nor was one necessary. There was no need for a subsequent selection process,” Fields said in an email. “The position had an incumbent.”
This gets more and more unbelievable, doesn’t it? So with her executive assistant responsibilities and the parking and emergency management duties, she must be really busy, right? Maybe not:
Though McDade-Dickens got a pay increase to serve as the city’s parking chief, Inglewood’s website directs visitors to contact Mario Inga, the parking and enterprise services manager, or Tanya Perry, the parking services superintendent, for any questions related to the management of the parking department. McDade-Dickens is not mentioned on the page.
Inga, who touts 27 years of experience in the parking and transportation industry on his LinkedIn, lists duties that include managing all of the city’s parking programs, the department’s budget, staff reports and any human resource-related issues. Inga earned about $105,000 total in 2017.
If you search for Ms. McDade-Dickens on the Inglewood city website, you won’t find her with her own page and you won’t find her listed among the assistant city managers on the management page. Nor does she appear to have a LinkedIn page, and it doesn’t seem that the reporter was able to ascertain any clues in Ms. McDade-Dickens’ background (beyond her political alliance with Mayor Butts) that suggest she is uniquely qualified for this job.
Inglewood, the article goes on to remind us, faces a $17 million budget deficit that they plan to cover this year by using $11 million in reserves and restructuring some pension obligations. The city is counting on a huge financial windfall once the new NFL stadium opens up on the old Hollywood Park site, so maybe in the future every political operative will be able to score a $300k sinecure from city hall. But I think if I were a city taxpayer, I would have an awful lot of questions about this arrangement.
– JVW
I know I titled this post “Only in California” even though this sort of thing would not be unexpected in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois, and a whole host of other states. Please indulge me some degree of literary license.
JVW (42615e) — 6/3/2018 @ 4:44 pmBy the way, I am dying to know what “other pay” refers to with these public employees. How do these assistant city managers pull in $60-80k in other pay? What’s with a police lieutenant making over $232k in other pay? What does the police chief do to earn $147k in other pay? The city gave out almost $7 million in other pay last year; it would be nice to know why.
JVW (42615e) — 6/3/2018 @ 4:54 pmOther salaries:
So, in pay alone, this Executive Assistant
The Dana who looked up the numbers. (ad65b0) — 6/3/2018 @ 4:57 pmearnsis paid more than the Vice President and every member of Congress. Clearly, she is underpaid.Here’s a good rule of thumb for city bureaucrats: If you can assign the duties of a two full-time positions along with some of the duties of a city manager to an employee who already ostensibly has a full-time job, then your city probably has a lot of useless make-work jobs that ought to be eliminated.
JVW (42615e) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:09 pmsleazy DOJ swampturd Jeffy Sessions, the assistant attorney general under Rod Rosenstein, only encourages this kind of rank crony corruption with his obscene hardon for civil asset forfeiture (mostly from black people) (yup he’s a bigot too)
Inglewood cooked its books to lure NFL team, former accounting manager says
happyfeet (28a91b) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:20 pmNow, take this example, and multiply exponentially for how the Federal Deep State operates.
Great stuff, JVW. Thank you.
Ed from SFV (76ec9e) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:24 pmSome will just assume she’s young and hot, but I imagine her main job is co-signing checks.
Kevin M (752a26) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:27 pmAs far as benefits are concerned, no public employee should get more than, oh, the second-highest 10% of private sector workers. What kind of benefit package costs $166K per year? Us private sector workers are LIMITED in what we can get without being taxed silly over it. This is the kid of crap that gets the benefits of regular public workers curtailed, when they mostly aren’t the problem.
Kevin M (752a26) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:35 pmKevin’s fix for CA pensions: the Windfall Pension Tax, assessed as a pension payroll tax.
Base rule: 100% tax on all pensions exceeding 80% of highest 3 years (inflation-adjusted) average.
After that, pensions:
under $100K, no tax.
over $100K, 10% tax
over $150K, 35% tax
over $200K, 75% tax
over $250K, 100# tax.
Oh, and medical care for retirees is the 2nd highest cost Silver Obamacare plan for those under 65, and Medicare for those over. Hostage-taking is the best way I can think of of getting the masses decent medical care.
Kevin M (752a26) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:42 pmBut I think if I were a city taxpayer, I would have an awful lot of questions about this arrangement.
They do. Have a friend who lives there; already concerned about the increase in traffic flow and the road conditions as well as that stadium is put in and play begins. Start w/questioning who the hell believes warm, sunny, busy LA can even support two NFL teams. College ball, sure. NFL, it’s a gamble. The Chargers left SD and nobody there misses them. Lots to do outdoors in the nice warm autumn days on a Sunday besides fighting traffic and paying for parking, overpriced tickets and stadium eats.
_____________
@3. Meh. What was that old line about Babe Ruth– maybe she ‘had a better year.’ 😉
The salary of every governor in the United States …
http://www.businessinsider.com/governor-salary-by-state-2018-1
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:45 pmWhat kind of benefit package costs $166K per year?
That’s for the police chief. My guess is that he gets pretty close to his $210k salary as a lifetime pension, and he might be getting a portion of that $147k of “other pay” that he manages to receive as well. Some of these police chiefs have contracts that allow their pensions to fully vest after only three to five years on the job, so Inglewood must figure it had better set aside that money now for Chief Fronterotta’s gold-plated retirement down the road (if he’s smart, Chief Fronterotta will retire just before the NFL shit-show arrives in town).
JVW (42615e) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:56 pmit gets worse
if you’re a sleazy coward-ass war hero like Johnny-lick McCain your drug-addict wife can inherit your salary when you die!
happyfeet (28a91b) — 6/3/2018 @ 5:59 pmThat which can’t go on, won’t… right?
Wow.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/3/2018 @ 7:48 pmWhy can’t it, coronello, maybe if there is a change of direction.
narciso (d1f714) — 6/3/2018 @ 8:00 pmSome time soon, they’ll repeal Prop 13 — probably using the courts (after all, if the state doesn’t defend, no one can, thank you John Roberts) — and property taxes will triple overnight. Problem solved.
Kevin M (752a26) — 6/3/2018 @ 8:36 pmSome of these police chiefs have contracts that allow their pensions to fully vest after only three to five years on the job
And added to all those other jobs he’s had before he became chief, he’ll get the retirement pay of a dozen working stiffs. The sacrifices these public servants make.
Kevin M (752a26) — 6/3/2018 @ 8:40 pmThe Chargers left SD and nobody there misses them.
And nobody in LA wants them. So, really there will only be the one team.
Kevin M (752a26) — 6/3/2018 @ 8:43 pmThat which can’t go on, won’t… right?
Ah, but it can go on. Inglewood is about to (likely) be awash in tax revenue. New townhomes being built close to the stadium are going to go for the $850,000 range, and the restaurants, bars, and hotels going up nearby ought to bring in some nice dollars. Like the rest of Los Angeles County, you will see poorer residents of the City of Champions displaced for middle-class and upper-class residents, and the city will have plenty of money to waste on unneeded public employees. Because Heaven forbid they use any of the windfall to improve the streets or lower tax rates.
JVW (42615e) — 6/3/2018 @ 8:45 pmAnd added to all those other jobs he’s had before he became chief, he’ll get the retirement pay of a dozen working stiffs.
Yeah, there was an amazing article some years back about all the double-dipping public employees, with some of the most egregious cases (which happened to be in law enforcement) being called out. There was a police chief somewhere up in Northern California who had worked for 20 years starting at age 21 in some city, rising to the level of captain. He was offered a job as police chief in a different city, so he was able to retire at City One at a lifetime pension of like $50k per year and take the chief job in City Two at $120k per year. He spent ten years as chief in City Two and then was hired away to be chief of the larger City Three at something like $220k per year (by then he was making $180k at City Two), but his contract with City Two allowed him to retire with a pension worth like $150k per year, so now he had his City Three salary plus his two pension payments from Cities One and Two. He did another five years at City Three, retiring at age 56 with a fully vested pension from City Three of about $240k, so his total pension payments from the three cities were now $450k annually. THEN, when City Three’s new police chief abruptly quit two years into the job, City Three coaxed the retired chief back into the job by offering him $300k AND letting him keep his current pension. So now you had a situation where he was collecting $450k for his three pensions on top of his $300k chief’s salary, and he stayed in that job — on an “interim basis” naturally — for three or four years.
Those details are from memory and may not be exact, but they are pretty close to what the story reported. The point was that he more-or-less earned the first pension by putting in 20 years (even though the pension was probably overly-generous), but the real scam is when these executives negotiate to be fully vested in pensions after only a few years on the job. I have a lot of respect for people who put their lives on the line in public safety jobs, but I think there is way too much of this feather-nesting in these jobs.
JVW (42615e) — 6/3/2018 @ 9:01 pmand the city will have plenty of money to waste on unneeded public employees. Because Heaven forbid they use any of the windfall to improve the streets or lower tax rates.
Santa Monica, which has money coming out of its ears, does things like give some employees 13 weeks of vacation annually. The hoard it of course, and either use it for a big retirement spike, or some time off at election time to “volunteer” on campaigns; patronage is not as dead as you think. They also take every other Friday off, but work all the harder the other 9 days (nudge nudge wink wink).
Kevin M (752a26) — 6/4/2018 @ 1:39 amJVW,
The people who put their lives on the line are not the people who get the huge pensions. Cops DO get to retire earlier than most (also firemen) and they should. The job destroys people, and relationships.
I have a problem with the bosses grabbing the brass ring, though. I also have a problem with so-called “peace officers” like meter maids and meat inspectors trying to get the same deal. I also think that folks getting that kind of 20 year pension should be held to a high standard — deadwood ought to get fired rather than put to pasture as school guards.
Kevin M (752a26) — 6/4/2018 @ 1:45 am@18. Don’t bet the ranch on that, JVW. Lived in PdR for years, not too far from LAX and this brewing mess. The access roads are beat to hell from general wear and tear, the traffic a PITA and Inglewood is literally ‘glidepath city’ into LAX; aircraft come in low and slow over the area. And when the winds shift, they take off to the east, not westerly out over the Pacific. The novelty of living close to a sports stadium and busy, noisy LAX- particularly when the freight and red eyes come and go in the wee hours, wears off fast.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/4/2018 @ 2:36 am#21
Is this a case of the people getting the government they deserve? In Soviet Russia, there were plenty of rich men. They all worked in the Politburo, of course. Oh, and in Soviet Russia, the TV watched you!
As far as raising taxes, that is all well and good. But people vote with their cars, packed up and headed for Texas.
Estarcatus (fd736a) — 6/4/2018 @ 3:44 am#20 Kevin M,
Inglewood Mayor Butts is a former police chief of Santa Monica.
JoeH (f94276) — 6/4/2018 @ 8:01 am