GLOBE THE MARYSVILLE
Vol. 123 No. 11
Education: Tickets
given out for good behavior lead to ice cream party. Page 5.
WEEKEND EDITION OCTOBER 9, 2016 WWW.MARYSVILLEGLOBE.COM 75¢ WEEKEND EDITION JUNE 8TH, 2014 WWW.MARYSVILLEGLOBE.COM 75¢
Herald THE SUNDAY
An Edition of
Top officials get big bucks By Steve Powell and Kirk Boxleitner spowell@marysvilleglobe.com
Kirk Boxleitner/Staff Photo
Rock show
Arlington’s Susan Ingram checks her faceting work on a stone at the Marysville Rock & Gem Club’s “Rocktoberfest” in the Totem Middle School gymnasium Oct. 1. She became a rockhound after attending the event in 2009 with her husband, as they were looking for things to do together. “It was fascinating to me that I could create something so beautiful,” she said. Many of the other rockhounds who attended
the show examined stones like the one above from the row of slab tubs to see how the light filters through them. Julie Johnson of Stanwood, for
one, said, “I look for unique patterns in the rocks and how the light flows through them. For more on the rock show, see Page 8.
MARYSVILLE – A survey of the highest-paid public officials in Marysville, Lakewood and Arlington shows it pays to be a school superintendent. The three school chiefs are paid more than anyone else in the communities. The new superintendent of Arlington Public Schools leads the way. Chrys Sweeting was hired at $220,000 a year, which is actually down from her predecessor, Kris McDuffy, who made over $23,000 more than that annually. For the Marysville School District, Superintendent Becky Berg ranks on top at $186,702 a year. In the Lakewood School District, Superintendent Michael Mack gets $147,211 annually. In city government, Marysville’s Chief Administrative Officer Gloria Hirashima ranks on top with an annual salary of $183,456. Police Chief Rick Smith and Public Works Director Kevin Nielsen tie for second at $162,468 each. Making $156,468 each are Parks Director Jim Ballew, Finance Director Sandy Langdon and City Attorney Jon Walker. C o m m u n i t y Development Director Dave Koenig is next on the list, making $144,000 annually, followed by Human
Resources Director Kristie Guy at $135,540. Three police c o m Berg manders round out the Top 10, each making $135,468 a year. Mayor J o n Hirashima Nehring is down the list just a little ways, at $127,919. In setting the mayor’s salary, for instance, the Salary Commission compared his position in six other cities. Bremerton was the smallest at 38,000 people, and that mayor earns $8,916 a month. The largest city compared, Renton, with 97,000 people, pays its mayor $11,767 a month. Marysville’s population is in the middle of that, at 64,940, and so is the mayor’s pay, at $10,451 a month. The Association of Washington Cities did a survey in 2015 regarding pay. Even though Kent and Renton are much larger, their CAOs make more than $500 less per month than Hirashima. However, the city closest in size to Marysville, which is Sammamish, with a population of 61,250, pays its city manager, a position with similar duties and respon-
sibilities, $100 more a month. F o r police chief, S m i t h Sweeting makes more than the chiefs in Everett and Kent, e v e n though those cities are Mack m u c h larger, but less than the Redmond chief, who serves 60,560 residents. After Berg, the rest of the administrators get paid pretty well, too. There is a five-way tie for second place, all making $151,049 a year. They are Chief Academic Officer Scott Beebe and four executive directors: Ray Houser, assessment/student services; Lori Knudson, secondary; James Stevens, SPED; Michael Sullivan, finance; and Jason Thompson, human resources. Four others round out the top 10, all making $129,497 a year. They are directors: Pamela Sanford, second SPED; Donneta SEE TOP, PAGE 2
Tue, Oct. 11
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