A surprise proposal to raise the pay of some of Salt Lake County's top officials was temporarily derailed Wednesday by the sole Republican commissioner.
The pay plan emerged from what was described as an intentionally secret salary survey by an outside consultant and would have been adopted but for a furious attack by Commissioner Mike Stewart."I'm appalled, I think it's offensive," Stewart told Commission Chairman Jim Bradley. "What you're proposing here doesn't reflect what's happening in the public or the private sector."
In its present form, the proposal would increase the grade levels of 38 senior positions and reduce those of four. After translating those grade levels into pay ranges, Stewart found that some bureaucrats would be eligible for pay raises of up to 30 percent.
For example, he said commission administrative assistants who now earn about $50,000 could make as much as $79,000, "which is more than the governor or the mayor of Salt Lake."
The pay of chief deputies in several county departments could be increased above that earned by state department heads, Stewart added. Bradley argued that changes in grade levels don't necessarily result in higher pay. Many of the positions would remain at the low end of the pay ranges, he said.
"Not in the real world," Stewart replied, noting that Bradley's administrative assistant, Kevin Higgins, was hired at the top of the old pay range rather than starting at the bottom. "That's the way things work around here."
The four reductions in grade levels - including a potential $10,000-drop in the salary of health director Dr. Harry L. Gibbons - were also questioned by Stewart and county attorneys. Conceding that those reductions posed legal problems, Bradley withdrew them from the proposal.
The concession failed to satisfy Stewart, who said the entire pay plan was "flawed," "foolish" and "out of whack." And he complained that no one had even seen the plan until a few hours before it was offered for adoption.
"This is the second time in a week that you've brought a major issue before this commission without public discussion and full staff evaluation," Stewart said, refer ring to Bradley's proposal last week to reorganize county government.
Bradley relented and agreed to a full discussion of the plan at a future commission staff meeting, but he predicted such a process will only lead to trouble.
The pay plan was purposely kept away from department heads and commissioners in an effort to "keep the politics out of it," Bradley said. Had officials known what was being proposed, they would have lobbied for changes, he said.
While going along with the delay, Commissioner Randy Horiuchi said it will open the floodgates of employees seeking changes in grade levels. "There will be arm-twisting and hammerlocks," he said.
Personnel Director J.D. Johnson said the grade level changes were based on what is known as the "St. Louis County Salary Survey," which compares the salaries of 100 positions in 53 counties.
Stewart called the survey an example of "feeding the fire that feeds us." He explained that next year's survey would show higher salaries in Salt Lake County, resulting in higher salaries in other counties that use the survey, resulting in higher salaries in Salt Lake County, etc.