Posted on 04/06/2005 10:11:09 PM PDT by BJungNan
Crime and controversy aren’t new to Desert Hot Springs. Just last week, the city’s police chief was fired. Now some residents in the city are concerned with a new matter involving the city manager’s paycheck. NewsChannel 3 has the exclusive story.
Desert Hot Springs City Manager Jerry Hanson is the city's top administrator, responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the city. During his tenure, the city emerged from bankruptcy. But how much is Hanson worth? The city thinks he's worth a lot.
We obtained Hanson's W-2 for 2004. It clearly shows he made $322,809.
“A lot of money. A huge sum of money."
Business owner Alex Bias says he didn't even have a clue how much the city manager made. He suspects something is wrong here.
”As a member of the community I am insulted that they would take such liberty . . . I think, if this is an example of one contract, one individual, I would like to see what the other contracts look like."
Nobody is suggesting Hanson did anything illegal. But many residents are wondering how a city with money problems can justify paying one administrator so much money. We caught up with Jerry Hanson to ask him about this.
He refused to talk to us about his salary.
"You need to talk to Theresa. She's the public information officer. All you have to do is go thru the door and ask her for an appointment."
So we did just that. The city's public information officer was shocked we were asking about Hanson’s 2004 salary.
“I have no comment.”
All we wanted was some answers about his compensation, which is public information. His contract, which is also public information, shows he is paid a base salary of $115,000 as city manager, another $10,000 for being executive director of the redevelopment agency.
The city also gives Hanson $760 dollars a month for city paid medical benefits, a $500 car allowance, plus $100 a month for gas. Those are just some of the perks Hanson receives from the city.
We talked to the city clerk, one of the people who signed Jerry Hanson's contract back on February first of this year.
"I attest signatures, I don't sign for content,” said City Clerk Rossie Stobbs.
So there weren't any real answers to our questions. Even Mayor Matt Weyuker refused to talk to us.
“He's aware of the issue. He doesn't have time. He can’t talk to you about it. I am sorry."
Back to city hall. Still no answers.
We came here to talk to the city manager about his contract and the situation going on. The public information officer told us to leave and locked the door.
"Step outside shut the door please. I am on a phone call.”
Gabriel King is a community activist. He says he's surprised by how much compensation the city is giving Hanson.
“A third of a million dollars is excessive.”
King says people need to be aware of this.
"I think it’s rather excessive. I am glad you brought this forth. This need to be out in the open. Citizens need to know everything."
For now, there are no real answers from city leaders or from Jerry Hanson himself about how much compensation he receives, but people here in Desert Hot Springs say they want answers. Many are shocked about these figures some don't know what to think.
"I am being robbed when I pay my taxes," said resident Ramona Jaime.
Meantime, other taxpayers say something needs to be done.
“I would think the first person this needs to go to would be our supervisor, to ask for his advice to see if we are looking at the same council in the same way."
Once again, nobody is saying Hanson or the city did anything illegal. But some residents just want to see how their tax money is being spent.
The media somehow mysteriously got a hold of the City Manager's W-2 for 2004 that showed that he had earned $322,000 last year. What the media neglected to tell us was how a salary of $125,000 annually could translate into this larger sum (everyone in town has the same question - City Council in the hot seat). In a nutshell, it's the result of the city council and the city manager renegotiating Mr. Hanson's contract, with the city agreeing to give up the severance package in exchange for a lump sum and not contributing any more to is CalPERS retirement or covering him for life and health insurance or a gasonline allowance....(Yada yada Yada).
What they reall did is pay him for all those things in advance and then the Mayor says the city will not longer be paying that to him. No kidding. The
Betcha some Indian guy could do that job for say, ten twelve grand a year.
I don't know about that, but really incredible isn't?
Our utilities manager got a $23,000 a year raise and now he makes $243,000 a year. Then they raised our rates. Quite a deal.
I am amazed by some of the salaries of some average level bureaucrats. When you figure the POTUS makes $400K...maybe that's a bargain.
This is just another example of how freely elected officials and bureaucrats spend taxpayer money. But why not if the voters let them get away with it.
So much for hardworking, underpaid public employees.
Of course nobody is saying that. The guest on Art Bell a couple nights ago explained all that.
He did not pull the city out of bankruptcy. The city settled for 100 cents on the dollar after spending and ended up with $10 million in expense and debt on an original $2 million dollar claim. They were paying the city attorney $50,000 a month for several years to fight the claim. The city manager is definately not worth it.
You got that right and a damn sight better too, I bet.
Horsefeathers!
Unbelievable isn't it, that someone would think a city manager in a small town could in any way be worth $322,000 a year - and on FR no less. What is FR coming to!
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