George Floyd protesters have occupied for the last several weeks a “police-free” Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) within Seattle’s East Precinct. They want city officials to defund the police and reallocate resources to neighborhoods.
The responses from local, state, and national authorities have ranged from Mayor Jenny Durkan, who called the zone “a block party,” to President Donald Trump, who referred to the occupants as “anarchists.” For their part, Seattle police worked to “reduce our footprint” in the area.
In consideration of the current debate, our auditors at OpentheBooks.com dug into Seattle’s pay and pension records for 2019 to figure out how the city is actually spending taxpayer money.
We found tree trimmers lopped off $160,604; the chief librarian made $197,704; electricians earned $271,070; electrical lineworkers made $307,387; and police officers earned up to $414,543.
Last year, 601 city employees out-earned the mayor ($199,593), and the mayor out-earned 49 out of 50 state governors (top pay: $202,000).
Seattle Police Department (SPD): 1,326 highly compensated SPD employees made six-figures or more while 364 employees earned over $200,000 last year. Review the entire payroll posted at OpenTheBooks.com.
Twenty SPD employees out-earned police chief Carmen Best ($289,420). The five highest paid included Ron Morgan Willis (patrol officer - $414,543); William Edward Jr (sergeant - $360,277); Steven Kim (officer - $332,274); Eric Zerr (sergeant - $331,413); and Brian Miles (sergeant - $328,338).
Other high earners included assistant chief of collaborative policing Adrian Diaz ($241,802), who seeks to foster positive relationships between the department and the community; hostage negotiation officer James Garner ($273,917); and bomb squad sergeant Daniel Miller ($279,266).
SPD employees earning six figures last year cost taxpayers a total of $237 million and included 1,052 officers, 172 sergeants, 61 lieutenants, and 23 captains. At the police academy, nineteen instructors made between $167,000 and $247,796. The high earner was Sergeant Linda Cook – and she was the only female of the nineteen instructors listed.
Our auditors also found 102 sizeable pensions that exceeded six figures annually. Highly paid retirees included Neil Low (advanced training commander - $196,416); Daniel Oliver ($192,444); Fredrick Hill (former East Precinct commander - $186,132); Ronald Wilson (former East Precinct commander - $184,020); and Michael Fann (traffic division commander - $168,696).
A police spokesperson responded to our request for comment:
“Compensation for our officers is set through the collective bargaining process pursuant to state law. It should be noted that compensation reported for 2019 includes retroactive compensation for 2015-2018 due to the union contract having expired.”
Seattle Fire Department (SFD) – 866 highly compensated employees of the fire department earned six figures, and 59 earned more than $200,000 last year. Review the entire payroll posted at OpenTheBooks.com.
Harold Scoggins, who became Chief of the Seattle Fire Department in 2015, earned $229,877, but fifteen SFD employees still out-earned him. The top five high earners included Jay Schreckengost (deputy chief - $282,055); Dennis Dahline (deputy chief - $276,872); William Zander (safety chief - $275,405); Tamalyn Nigretto (battalion chief - $264,509); and Thomas Walsh (deputy chief - $256,815).
Other highly compensated earners included paramedic Michael Mann ($213,922); dispatcher Jore Lund ($215,398); captain Rory Dees ($233,234); and lieutenant Paul Andrews ($253,842).
Overall, SFD employees earning six figures last year cost taxpayers $120 million and included 603 firefighters, 156 lieutenants, 58 captains, 25 battalion chiefs, and 8 deputy chiefs. These also included 222 drivers who earned between $100,057 and $191,639. The highest paid driver was firefighter Patrick Williams.
Our auditors additionally found 78 six-figure annual pensions. Some of the highest paid retirees included Alan Dennis Vickery (former assistant chief - $233,604); Gregory Michael Dean (former chief - $206,136); Michael Walsh (former interim chief - $185,196); and Steven Oleson ($162,600).
The fire department responded to our comment request through their public information officer:
“We currently have 80 firefighter vacancies, partly due to a significant number of retirements in 2019 and only two recruit classes per year approved by the city budget to hire new firefighters. As a result, overtime is utilized to ensure shifts are covered due to paid, unpaid and administrative leave.”
Seattle City Light public utility – In a rather unique arrangement, Seattle municipal government also owns City Light, an electrical utility. Because of the construction boom in and around the city, large amounts of overtime flowed to rank-and-file hourly workers.
Who knew that supervisors and cable splicers could nearly out-earn the CEO of a public utility? We reached out for comment, and a utility spokesperson responded:
“Overtime is utilized to manage workload and staffing based on customer need, which was extremely high in 2019 due to the extraordinary volume of new construction in and around Seattle. And the urban environment presents its own challenges, where disruptive work must often occur during evenings and weekends.”
Additional high paying jobs in Seattle city government:
City council: Elected in 2017 as an at-large member of the city council, according to records provided by the Human Resources Department, Teresa Mosqueda was the top-paid member and earned $131,336 last year. The former AFL-CIO labor activist’s pay exceeded the compensation to members of the New York general assembly – the highest paid state legislature ($130,000).
A city council spokesperson responded to our request for comment stating that “districted” council members can earn up to $137,432 per year. However, city payroll disclosures showed that members Debora Jaurez ($123,277); Lisa Herbold ($123,181); Kshama Sawant ($122,760) and others all earned less than Mosqueda, who was elected “at-large.”
City library: Chief librarian Marcellus Turner made $197,701 and out-earned the same position in the Chicago Public Library ($167,004). Turner also employed a six-figure executive assistant ($100,380).
Truck drivers, street pavers, and tree trimmers: Twenty-two truck drivers made between $100,000 and $137,000 last year. The street pavers did even better – seven employees earned between $122,171 and $145,196. Three tree trimmers made between $133,975 and $160,604.
Seattle’s long-term financial situation looks bleak. The city has guaranteed $6.2 billion in retirement benefits to its workforce yet hasn’t funded $2 billion of those promises (2018). Therefore, each city resident owes $5,400 just to cover the unfunded liability, according to fiscal accountability organization Truth In Accounting.
Progressive critics from the Autonomous Zone and conservative fiscal hawks both decry a misallocation of resources by Seattle city government.
And both camps can point to hard data to make their case.