Senior managers rewarded for 'magnificent' work

By Mike Howell-Staff writer

It might be a stretch to call them the Magnificent Seven.

But the majority of city council believes the work of the top seven senior managers at city hall is magnificent enough to give them pay hikes.

On Tuesday, in a closed meeting, council voted in favour of pay hikes for 58 senior managers, including city manager Judy Rogers, who will receive a 30 per cent increase to her $197,000 salary.

Rogers tops the city's pay scale, with six others all at the second-highest level, which ranges from $149,334 to $186,667, depending on which step the employee has reached.

The six others are deputy city manager Brent MacGregor, general manager of parks and recreation Susan Mundick, general manager of corporate services Estelle Lo, general manager of community services Jacqueline Forbes-Roberts, city solicitor Frances Connell and general manager of Olympic preparations Dave Rudberg.

All six will receive increases of two to 15 per cent, as will the 51 other managers, whose jobs include overseeing planning, building services and human resources.

The city was unable to provide current salaries for the seven highest paid managers, but the city's 2003 Statement of Financial Information shows Rogers earned $203,486 in 2003, which includes overtime and deferred vacation time.

The 2003 financial statements also list Rudberg ($160,641), Forbes-Roberts ($161,878), Connell ($156,857), Lo ($154,157), Mundick ($160,818) and MacGregor ($165,234).

The city's 2005 payment plan obtained by the Courier indicates there are 17 pay brackets, which begin at $29,402 and end at $266,667. Each bracket is divided into five steps.

The new plan, however, only saw increases for people in pay brackets 13 to 17. Step one of pay bracket 13, for example, has increased from $92,079 to $94,000. Step five of pay bracket 13 has increased from $115,107 to $117,500.

Council voted on the pay hikes after reviewing a city-commissioned report conducted by consulting firm Watson Wyatt. The report cost the city $5,000.

The report-written in complicated, bureaucratic language-doesn't identify the cities or public sector organizations the authors polled to reach their conclusions.

The authors, however, said Canadian municipalities, Crown corporations, health authorities and post-secondary institutions were part of the study.

posted on 12/06/2004