The County Executive is the chief executive and administrative official of the county, but his $85,000 salary pales next to his cabinet, most of whom will be paid in the vicinity of $100,000. It's lower than what most appointed township and borough managers receive. It's well below the $178,868 paid to each of nine county judges. It's even below the $89,438 salary paid to 14 magisterial district judges, and they are permitted to have other jobs. Three of those will be sworn in today, too.
About the only people he beats are those incoming Council members, who will receive a salary of $9,500. They are part-time, but are the governing body and are vested with the "residual powers" of the County.
When Council convenes later today, it will be to name a new President and VP. The rumor is that Ken Kraft has the votes needed to be elected President, but reorganizations are tricky affairs. If Kraft is elected President, my hope is that the VP slot will go to Ron Heckman or Bob Werner, both of whom are experienced. Council is expected to replace long-time Solicitor Phil Lauer with Chris Spadoni, who served 17 years as Solicitor to Bethlehem City Council.
I've heard no rumblings about seeking a replacement for Council Clerk Linda Zembo. She does serve at the pleasure of Council
Council will get down to business on Thursday.
And Melissa Shaffer makes $130k+ whilst working from home 3-4 times a month, go figure!
ReplyDeleteAnd who the hell is Melissa Shaffer?
ReplyDeleteStop hating losers
ReplyDeleteHopefully these new people can prove they deserved to replace those who were on and made the county a better place.
ReplyDeleteshe is BT’s manager and inreported on her salary last week. It is well within the norm. She is worth every penny. Ask the people who were alerted to a man shooting over 100 rounds just as school,was letting out. They could have been victims, but shafer’s foresight saved lives. She implemented a ani le system that has been activated several times thus far. The question is not why is she paid so much, but is instead why is McClure paid so little.
ReplyDelete1:04, the voters disagreed with your assessment, and what they say matters more than your anonymous comment.
ReplyDeleteOne other point. shafer’s salary is $115k, not $130k.
ReplyDeleteYou ar4e advocating more hard working tax payer money go to politicians. They must learn to live within their means. No one forced them to run. This isn't a welfare state.
ReplyDeleteShe makes far too much money.
I advocate paying people what they are worth. Ms. Shafer's transparency has twice saved lives, while you crawl out from under a rock to slime people anonymously. By the way, this is about McClure, not Shafer. If you want to complain about her salary, go to the post I already wrote about it.
ReplyDeleteThe pay is high for county people.
ReplyDeleteBut not when Brown was paying it to his cabinet, right?
ReplyDeleteI don't have a lot of faith in the new council. No real experience. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteTranslation: I prefer Republicans. Heckman is experienced and so is McClure. Geissinger, Benol and Vaughn had no experience, and Geissinger took a year off to run for Congress. Indon’t Have a lot of faith in that kind of person.
ReplyDeleteCounty council gets down to business on Thursday, not Wednesday
ReplyDeleteClerk to Council makes a ridiculous salary (~$90,0000+) to be a glorified secretary. What is wrong with Council? Changes need to be made.
ReplyDelete"County council gets down to business on Thursday, not Wednesday."
ReplyDeleteThank you for the correction. Don't know why I wrote that.
@6:29 -- As a taxpayer, it sounds like the Clerk to Council is getting paid twice what a secretary does. I expect the new County Council to remedy that. This is taxpayer dollars we are talking about and that elected you.
ReplyDeleteYour right BOH. There are township managers making significantly more money, with budgets far less than the county, with responsibilities that are way smaller than the county and have cabinet members making less money. Look, I hate to pay higher taxes and consider myself fiscally conservative on spending, [not like pocketbook Peg], but agree there is a large disparity in McClure's salary. But it seems that the whole county pay system has to be reviewed, [thanks to John Brown], by professionals, and this could be paid for by the earmarked Peg Ferraro fish tank expense that should be repealed!
ReplyDelete"Clerk to Council makes a ridiculous salary (~$90,0000+) to be a glorified secretary. What is wrong with Council? Changes need to be made."
ReplyDeleteThis is an extremely important position that requires detailed knowledge of the county and the government. We are very fortunate that Frank Flisser held this role for many years. He had this knowledge. Moreover, he was extremely loyal to Council, no matter what their party. He did not gossip and never would leak information. He became one of the county's highest paid employees and was worth every penny.
I could see giving Linda a shot in Frank's position because she worked under him and he recommended her. But not at the salary that the previous Council gave her. In time, I could see it going in that direction, as it did for Frank.
I do not wish to be unfair to Linda. She has a huge role and it would be next to impossible for anyone to succeed Flisser.
Advocating for a pay raise for your boy from day one.
ReplyDeleteFake reporting! You have no idea how many people in the area of the shooting are subscribed to the alert system.
ReplyDeleteYou do not have to be subscribed to get emergency notifications.
ReplyDeleteShe implemented an ani le system. I'm sorry I don't know what that is and I even googled it before I asked. Help me with that one please.
ReplyDelete3:30? Thought everything started at 4:30.
ReplyDeleteSwearing in at 3:30 pm.
ReplyDeletewhenever I read threads like this, an old story comes to mind:
ReplyDeleteNikola Tesla visited Henry Ford at his factory, which was having some kind of difficulty. Ford asked Tesla if he could help identify the problem area. Tesla walked up to a wall of boilerplate and made a small X in chalk on one of the plates. Ford was thrilled, and told him to send an invoice.
The bill arrived, for $10,000. Ford asked for a breakdown. Tesla sent another invoice, indicating a $1 charge for marking the plate with an X, and $9,999 for knowing where to put it.
The moral of the story, knowledge has value.
I have no problem at all paying for skill, ability and experience. I have a large problem paying for incompetence. From what I've seen, Melissa Shaffer is solid and should be paid as such. McClure we'll see, but the position itself is worth more than what he'll make. At that salary, the county is lucky anyone with any brains at all are willing to run.
The Banker
Is McClure expected to name cabinet today?
ReplyDeleteWord is his cabinet will be present but not to be sworn in yet. If rumors are true his Human Services pick may have a problem. He may even lose democrat votes. We will see.
ReplyDelete1:01 you like making up things?
ReplyDelete12:35, I answered that question last week.
ReplyDeleteHeard it is already a disaster. Is Kraft already in trouble?
ReplyDeleteThese hacks are hoping that the government fails, which shows what they really think of the people.
ReplyDelete"Heard it is already a disaster. Is Kraft already in trouble?"
ReplyDeleteYou are confused. This is not Trump's twitter feed. LOL
12:16, is sewing disinformation, much like her hero, authoritarian Donald Trump. the meeting went off without a hitch, and was almost over before it started.
ReplyDelete