The New Poor - Seattle Style

[JayB]

Note all of the Regressionists chiming in in the feedback section.

 

 

 

"Fire chief of tiny district to lose job but get $300,000 severance

 

To lower costs, the North Highline Fire District is eliminating its fire chief, whose salary is higher than the governor's, but he is set to receive more than $300,000 under a severance package.

 

As North Highline fire chief, Scott LaVielle oversees two stations and 35 employees and last year earned more than Gov. Chris Gregoire.

 

LaVielle's pay of $186,370 even outpaced the salary of Seattle Fire Chief Gregory Dean, who made $173,709 for managing 32 stations and 1,155 employees.

 

Now, as LaVielle prepares to leave the job, he is set to receive more than $300,000 under a severance package that includes one year's pay plus about $115,880 for unused sick leave, vacation and compensatory time.

 

David Lawson, a former North Highline fire commissioner and now chief financial officer of Federal Way-based South King Fire & Rescue, calls the chief's pay "outrageously high."

 

This small district, serving White Center, Boulevard Park and other communities between Seattle and Burien, has a history of paying its fire chiefs extraordinary salaries. But as the economy tanked and the size of the district shrank, officials have been scrambling to cut back...

 

His pay was set under policies adopted in 2006 when commissioners gave his predecessor, Russ Pritchard, a raise of $72,336 three months before he retired. Pritchard earned a $198,000 annual salary in his final months on the job.

 

Two of the three commissioners who voted for Pritchard's raise said it reflected the chief's broad duties — he has no assistant chief or public-information officer — and was intended to lift his pay above what battalion chiefs earned with overtime.

 

The state Department of Retirement Systems at the time questioned whether Pritchard's raise constituted severance pay that shouldn't be used to calculate his pension.

 

The Fire Department's lawyer responded that the raise was based on a new formula that would apply to future chiefs: pegging pay to years of experience and assuring the chief would make more than his subordinates.

 

The retirement agency was satisfied with the lawyer's explanation, an agency spokeswoman said.

 

Wayne Alishokis, a retired North Highline firefighter and current board chairman, said the board wanted to replace Pritchard with LaVielle, who had taken more classes in firefighting and administration.

 

Of letting Pritchard go, Alishokis said, "He had a long career with the Fire Department. I didn't want to be one to screw him over for anything. I wanted to see him taken care of fairly."

 

Was Pritchard's raise intended to increase his pension payments?

 

"If I told you that was not taken into consideration, I'd be lying to you," Alishokis said. "It was a little bit of this and a little bit of that." Alishokis said he was speaking for himself, not the board."

 

Read the whole thing:

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011157863_pay23m.html

 

 

[Hugh Conway]

Still bending over dollars to pick up pennys aren't you JayB

[prole]

Now if he were a derivatives trader...that'd be a different story.