Could the city clerk pull in more money than the police
chief?
Morgan Hill
Could the city clerk pull in more money than the police chief?
In Morgan Hill, that’s not the case, but it is still pretty lucrative to work in the position often perceived as lowly and unglamorous.
In 2006, Irma Torrez, Morgan Hill’s elected city clerk and the council services and records manager, earned $129,171. That included $86,301 in regular wages alone, with the rest coming from various benefits such as comp pay and flex spending. For the fiscal year 2007, with 200 more work hours logged than in fiscal 2006, Torrez was paid $137,165, according to records released to the Morgan Hill Times.
Torrez’s salary isn’t quite high enough to place her in the top echelon, where the top city brass make up to — and in one case, over — $200,000. She makes much less than some police officers, whose overtime accrual results in salaries that exceed the police chief’s.
The city manager is in a league by himself. In 2007, Edward Tewes’ was paid $208,978, making him not only the highest-paid city employee, but also the only to break the $200,000 mark.
The next highest wage earner was City Attorney Janet C. Kern, who was paid $168,490 in 2007. Other high earners, as expected, were department heads. The recreation and community services Director Stephen J. Rymer made $152,041 in 2007; community services and planning manager Julie G. Spier, $138,331; finance director John Dilles, $165,148; police chief Bruce Cumming, $165,148; public works director James Ashcraft, $167,035; community development Director Kathleen Molloy Previsich, $157,027; and business assistance director Garrett Toy, $168,152.
Records show that Brian M. Stott, who replaced Melissa Stevenson Dile, as assistant to the city manager, was paid $87,751 in fiscal 2007. Stevenson Dile, who left to take another position elsewhere, was paid $132,281 in 2006.
“Brian is doing an outstanding job,” said Mayor Steve Tate, who said hiring “the best and the brightest” required paying them good money.
With public safety a perennial municipal priority, being a police officer in Morgan Hill is proportionally lucrative. In addition to his regular base pay of $88,477, Sgt. David Myers’ compensation package brought his total payout to $148,900. Other officers’ wages were similar, according to the records.
For Joe Sampson, the police commander and second-in-command at the department, money isn’t everything. He moved to Morgan Hill four-and-half years ago from Orange County to get away from the big-city bustle and to find a better quality of life.
“If someone asked me, nobody becomes a public servant to become rich,” Sampson said. “I moved here for family reasons, a less crowded environment. I’m one of the people least concerned with compensation issues than you can talk to. As long as the city pays a fair and competitive wage, for me personally that’s fine.”
Whether the city does pay a fair and competitive wage will be determined as soon as January, when a compensation study comparing Morgan Hill salaries with those of other cities in Santa Clara County is expected to be completed, said Human Resources Director Mary Kaye Fisher. The study, the first of its kind in at least five years, is being done in-house, she said.
The city employed 484 people in 2007, 54 more than in 2006. Of those, about 180 were regular, full-time staffers, Fisher said. The growth was a result of the opening of the Centennial Recreation Center, where more seasonal staff, including lifeguards, were hired.
Total city payroll increased 8.9 percent from fiscal year 2006 to 2007. Employees were paid 15.7 million in 2006 and $17.1 million in 2007, the records show.
Morgan Hill’s Top Moneymakers
- Edward Tewes, city manager, $208,978
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Janet C. Kern, city attorney, $168,490
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Garrett Toy, business assistance director $168,152
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Bruce Cumming, police chief, $165,148
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James Ashcraft, public works director $167,035
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John Dilles, finance director $165,148
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Shane Palsgrove, police sergeant, $160,257
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Mori R. Struve, deputy public works director, $152,319
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Stephen J. Rymer, recreation and community services Director, $152,041
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Kathleen Molloy Previsich, community development director, $157,027
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Julie G. Spier, community services and planning manager, $138,331
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Irma Torrez, city clerk, $137,165
Source: City of Morgan Hill
