CA: Governor's aides may get big raises (Susan Kennedy and others to get MEGA-raises)

SACRAMENTO — The top aide to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could earn a state salary exceeding $200,000 a year as part of a round of raises the governor is preparing to award his senior deputies.

The raises could lift some salaries among the 185 people working in the governor's office to $169,500 in certain cases, with the governor's chief of staff, Susan P. Kennedy, eligible for up to $225,000.

Kennedy now collects a state salary of $143,000, and the most senior aides beneath her earn about $134,000.

The pay hikes were set in motion last year, when the governor signed a bill with bipartisan support authorizing higher salaries for agency secretaries and department heads.

A spokesman for the governor's office said no decision has been made as to the size of the increases or how much Kennedy might receive. Nor has the governor identified how many will get raises, said Aaron McLear, the governor's press secretary.

Pay hikes, McLear said, are needed "to retain the best and brightest in these key positions."

Some fiscal conservatives said the governor should forgo salary increases at a time when nonpartisan analysts are predicting a budget shortfall of $726 million.

"It almost appears that the administration is rewarding people when there is every reason to tighten the belt," said Lew Uhler, president of the National Tax Limitation Committee, based in Sacramento. "It sends absolutely the wrong message to the overburdened taxpayers of California."

As a result of the new law, 49 people got raises effective Sunday, some of which exceed 20%.

I'm sure those numbers are horrifying to rural Alabamans, but that's a drop in the bucket by California standards. The top people in private and public companies across the state make a lot more than that.

This is another case of faux outrage by a media outlet which pays no attention to the tens of billions being wasted in the education budget, so I wouldn't put too much stock in anything they decide to decry for partisan purposes. ;)

Jim Brulte, a former state senator who now works for the political consulting firm California Strategies, said: "Assuming you did well and you leave an administration during the administration, you're generally considered a valuable commodity because of your understanding of "the decision-making process".

"People can hire lobbyists to lobby and hire campaign people to campaign, but nobody knows "the decision-making process" other than people who were there."

Forget about sacrificing for the "common good", go to work for gubamint in California and rake it in and then score even bigger when you leave.

and Hey, if you're pushing the gay & liberal agenda, all the better for you , not the state and what it portends for the future

Governor considers mega-raises for his senior staff members...*

Jon Fleischman - Flash Report commentary

$225,000 for Susan Kennedy?

Today, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Governor Schwarzenegger is planning on doling out hefty, substantive salary adjustments (they are too large, in my opinion, to simply characterize them as 'raises') -- his Chief of Staff, former California Democratic Party Executive Director Susan Kennedy, could end up making $225,000 annually. There will be a healthy discussion, I am sure ,as to whether these raises are a good idea or not. I can certainly see both sides of the argument -- with talent attraction and retention on one side, and cost to taxpayers as well as symbolism being on the other. I would simply suggest on this quiet Saturday morning that what is most egregious is the backdrop of a massive state bureaucracy that is vastly larger than it needs to or should be, with entire agencies and departments that, frankly, should be eliminated. Just as an exercise, I went to the State of California website, and clicked down the state agency/department list a random number of times. When I stopped, I looked at the list. It took me about one second to find something to eliminate, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Cut it. Let local governments create this function in their areas if they so choose to do so. If it is gone, guess what, there is one less department head who is getting a big salary adjustment. So the real issue here, in my mind, is not how much these senior aides and department heads are paid, but simply that there are way too many of them, as a function of a grossly obese state government. (excerpt)

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