May
19th
Who are highest paid employees in Puyallup and Lakewood?
The latest 2010 updates in our SoundInfo searchable public employee pay databases are two mid-sized cities: Lakewood and Puyallup.
(Search data for Lakewood here.)
(Search data for Puyallup here.)
Some observations from a quick sort and averaging of the numbers.
In Lakewood:
• City Manager Andrew Neiditz was the top-paid employee at $164,491, followed by court security police Sgt. John Fraser at $160,178 and community police Sgt. Mark Eakes at $128,088.
• Sixteen out of the top 25 paid employees were in the police department, mostly officers and sergeants making over their base rate of pay. Six-figure pay for rank-and-file officers isn’t uncommon – we’re finding that local cities and counties routinely rely on overtime in their public safety operations.
• Forty-one out of 300-some employees in the database made $100,000 or more. (Thirty-one of those were in the police department.)
• City Council members were paid $8,400, while Mayor Doug Richardson received $10,800
• Average salaries for other job titles: police officer – all types ($88,215), office assistant ($30,252), human resources analyst ($65,253), maintenance worker II ($53,691), code enforcement officer ($56,333), senior planner ($75,934).
In Puyallup:
• The top paid employee was police patrol Sgt. Robert Thompson at $150,781, followed by City Manager Ralph Dannenberg at $150,153
• City Council members made $13,700 while Deputy Mayor Tamara Brouillet made $14,400 and Mayor Kathy Turner made $15,600.
• Pay for some other job titles: corrections officer ($64,526), court clerk ($48,328), fleet services mechanic 2 ($61,840), librarian 1 ($44,780), parks maintenance worker 2 ($52,958), police patrol officer ($95,398).
• Forty-two out of 300 some employees made $100,000 or more last year.
To see a list of the top paid employees for each city, read on.
Read more »