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Sunday, February 16, 2020
Mesa schools audit details extravagant raises BY PAUL MARYNIAK AND CHRISTOPHER BOAN Tribune Staff
A
n audit by Mesa Public Schools found that former Superintendent Ember Conley gave out $145,000 in unapproved raises – including one for $44,000 – at a time when she was laying the groundwork for the district’s budget override campaign early last year. Conley also filled two top-level job vacancies with salaries that exceeded the maximum pay set by the board, according to an audit the Gov-
erning Board released last week. And she raised the number of the Superintendent’s Executive Team members to 15. Between the two additional members and authorized and unauthorized raises, the executive team’s total compensation went from $2,068,000 in the 2018-19 fiscal year to a current $2,619,555, the audit said. Those numbers don’t include Conley’s base salary of $225,000 a year. Conley resigned Dec. 2 from the position she had held since mid-2018 after the board received the audit.
She had been put on administrative leave Nov. 18 when questions arose about the raises. The board commissioned the audit on Oct. 31. The board had been withholding the audit’s release, stating it needed time to study the report. “We have been looking at these numbers for several weeks for several hours,” board President Elaine Miner said at the board’s meeting Feb. 11, when the audit was released. “There’s not much else – at least I can speak for my-
see CONLEY page 10
Cubs fans due for a surprise at Sloan Park BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
T
he annual throng of Chicago Cubs fans who jam Sloan Park for every Cactus League season will encounter a surprise even before they settle into their seats, bask in the sun and eat their first hot dog. About 800 spots have vanished from the stadium’s largest parking lot as some oncepopular soccer fields make way for The Union, a massive office park billed by the city as an important source of new high paying jobs. Sabine Ellis, Mesa’s traffic engineer, has a plan to replace the lost parking spaces with three new lots and even a ride-sharing drop-
see BASEBALL page 6
As the city traffic engineer, Sabine Ellis will be standing in the Sloan Park booth with screens showing what kind of traffic situations exist around the stadium. (Pablo Robles/ Tribune Staff Photographer)