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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

City Struggles With Administrator’s Salary Some Say $70,178 Is Too Much To Pay Manager; Others Say He’s Worth Every Penny

Laura Shireman Staff writer

The Post Falls city administrator makes more money than any other city administrator working for cities of comparable size in Idaho.

This year, the city will pay Jim Hammond $70,178.

His salary is only $3,430 less than the city administrator in Coeur d’Alene, where the population is roughly double that of Post Falls.

The question raised in the recent City Council race is not whether Hammond is doing a good job, but why he gets paid so much.

Councilman Scott Grant said Hammond deserves the pay because, as a former City Councilman and mayor, he needed no time to learn how the city worked. And the city would have had to pay any outsider who applied for the job a similar salary, he added.

“We hadn’t been successful the last two times,” Grant explained. Before hiring Hammond, the city had two city administrators in a short period of time.

During the council campaign, candidate and city councilman-elect Joe Bodman accused the city of spending too much on salaries for department heads and not enough on salaries for other city workers.

“Jim (Hammond) is doing a very good job,” Bodman said. However, he added, Hammond may be overpaid for his job in a city the size of Post Falls.

City Councilman Joe Doellefeld also said the city has too much administration and probably spends too much on single positions.

“Sometimes I think we’re top-heavy,” Doellefeld said in an interview during his recent campaign.

The city administrator in Burley, for example, makes $46,342 - about two-thirds of what Hammond makes. Burley’s population is 9,578. Hammond also earns a little more than the city administrator in Moscow, which is almost double the size of Post Falls.

Post Falls’ population is about 10,377, according to the Idaho Association of Cities. City officials have put the figure between 13,000 and 15,000. Coeur d’Alene’s population is 28,457.

Hammond’s job duties include preparing the agenda for the City Council, enforcing its decisions, giving information to council members and directing the heads of city departments.

“I’m the chief operating officer of about 110 FTEs (full-time employees),” he said, adding, however, “I only directly supervise about 10 people now.”

Hammond answers to the mayor, Gus Johnson. Johnson says Hammond is worth every penny because he does such a good job.

“The idea that some of our people are overpaid is just campaign rhetoric,” he said. “I think it’s making a mountain out of a molehill.”

Hammond got the job after serving for nine years on the council and then 5-1/2 years as mayor. When the council asked the previous city administrator, John Hendrickson, to resign, Hendrickson’s salary was $59,946.

Johnson and Hammond both said Hendrickson’s actual salary was higher because the city was paying more for benefits than normal. They said Hendrickson’s actual salary was closer to $66,000.

The following year, when Hammond took the job, he made $69,491. The council set the salary while Hammond still was mayor and before Hendrickson resigned, Hammond said.

“You get exactly what you pay for,” Councilman Clay Larkin said. “At the time we appointed him as administrator, he had 16 years of experience with Post Falls. He knew everyone in Post Falls.”

Most salaries for Post Falls department heads are within a range of 20 percent of the same position’s pay in other cities. That’s taking into consideration the size of the city and the different responsibilities for given positions in different towns.

Police Chief Cliff Hayes, for example, makes a comparable amount to other police chiefs who have authority over a similar number of officers. He makes $54,831 with 25 full-time officers.

City Council members make $2,400 per year, while the average pay for council members in towns this size is $4,873.

And Bodman pointed out that Chris Pappas, the city clerk, makes $38,002 per year - less than any other city clerk in towns this size - and said she ought to make more. Pappas has worked for the city for 19 years and has served as city clerk since 1992.

The planning and building director, Gary Young, makes $49,694 per year. Most of the other towns don’t have the same position, but two of the three that do - Blackfoot and Meridian - pay $35,020 and $39,996 respectively. Moscow, the other city close to Post Falls’ size that has a planning director, pays $58,200.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Salaries compared