About our City Manager George Gretas Compensation

1. That Fort Lauderdale City Manager George Gretsas receives a higher salary (at $230,000 per year) than that of the Vice President of the United States? (The Vice President’s salary is $221,900 per year).

2. Gretsas also earns more in a base salary (230K) than the active, full time Mayors of Major U.S. cities many times our size, such as:

a. San Francisco (Mayor’s salary is $215,000)

b. Boston (Mayor’s salary is $175,000)

c. Chicago (Mayor’s salary is $216,000)

3. That a typical City Manager salary of a city our size (180,000 residents) is about $150,000 per year.

4. That with his retirement pension and additional benefits, George Gretsas earns over $315,000 per year. (An average wage earner in Fort Lauderdale earns about $45,000 per year.)

5. Our City Manager was not even a resident of Fort Lauderdale before he was hired. He moved here from White Plains New Jersey to take the job of “City Manager”. He also brought three of his friends with him to serves as “Assistant City Managers”, each of whom receive total compensation packages in excess of $200,000 annually.

6. After the end of his second contract with the city (which expires August 2010), George Gretsas will have received, (from Fort Lauderdale taxpayers) over $1.6 million in compensation! (We as taxpayers, are making George Gretsas a millionaire!)

7. Due to a very poorly-worded hiring contract, we cannot terminate the employment of George Gretsas early without providing him a lump sum termination payment equal to six month’s salary (over $120,000).

8. We should be asking our Commissioners and Mayor: “How could you have allowed this type of excessive compensation to occur, for more than six years?”

What does this mean?

It means this is one more example of our Mayor and Commissioners being “asleep at the wheel”; not being in control of our city’s budget or salaries. It also means that you are paying more in property taxes than you should be.

While the City Manager may be responding well to certain constituencies within the city, that is his job and that is what he should be doing for all of Fort Lauderdale. He should be getting paid a reasonable salary for doing that, not a ridiculous compensation package in excess of $300,000. When City bureaucrats earn more than they should, they start focusing less on their constituents (us), and they start to focus more on keeping their position and salary. We end up losing by paying out more and getting less service.

Because Gretsas has become too focused on keeping his position and salary, he has become (according to many neighborhood leaders), overly controlling with most, if not all City Departments. He does not allow different opinions to surface or allow those within the Department to speak publicly. He has become a very polarizing figure in Fort Lauderdale, demoralizing the Police Department and many city employees. He has fired many senior city employees with more experience in our City Government than he has. All this has occurred with no management or oversight on the part of the Mayor or Commission!

To be effective, a City Manager must do three things well:

1. A City Manager must be able to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of the residents of the entire City.

2. A City Manager must be a “consensus builder” and engage all City employees and Department Heads to work toward common goals for the benefit of the City. Morale must be kept high.

3. A City Manager must keep tight reigns on the budget and look for ways to provide “more service for less money”.

I believe that George Gretsas has partially accomplished Goal #1, yet he has failed badly in Goal #2 and Goal #3.

What will I do?

As Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, I will expect to see George Gretsas’ resignation on my desk within the first week of taking office.

I will seek out and propose to the Commission for their approval a Fort Lauderdale resident to replace George Gretsas. This person will have successful experience (in either the public or private sector) in: managing large groups of people, providing a high level of customer service and managing and controlling budgets effectively.

 

About our City Attorney’s Compensation

1. City Attorney Harry Stewart’s salary ($243,000) is even higher than the Vice President of the United States (who receives $221,900)!

2 With his pension, medical insurance, FICA, and vehicle allowance, his total compensation is over $348,000 per year!

3. After the end of his second contract with the City (August 2009), Mr. Stewart will have received over $1.7 million from City taxpayers? We are making millionaires out of our highest paid city bureaucrats!

4. City Attorneys of other cities our size receive a much more realistic salary. The City Attorney of Little Rock, for example (population 185,000, same as us), receives a salary of $133,000, almost half of what Mr. Stewart earns.

5. The average salary of a Fort Lauderdale city resident is about $45,000 per year, and out of that $45K, we must pay property taxes to fund the salary of Harry Stewart and other over-paid city bureaucrats.

6. Mr. Stewart was not even a resident of Fort Lauderdale when he was hired (He was a member of a private practice law firm in Orlando).

7. Because of a very poorly-worded hiring contract, we cannot terminate Harry Stewart without providing him a lump sum termination payment equal to six month’s salary (over $120,000).

8. Even being the highest paid city bureaucrat, Mr. Stewart still came to the Mayor and Commission and asked for a 10% raise this year. I perceive this to be unabashed greed.

What does this mean?

To me, it means that our elected officials (Mayor and Commissioners) are “Asleep at the wheel” and have allowed these types of salary excesses to go on for years, at the expense of us, the taxpayers. It is absurd that our elected officials continue to allow overpaid city bureaucrats to raid our municipal piggybank, with little if any, financial controls or spending limits.

Other cities can manage their budgets and their employee’s salaries, why can’t we?

It is important to note that I believe that Mr. Stewart has done a basically good job of serving Fort Lauderdale as a City Attorney. However, he is overpaid. We can certainly locate a Fort Lauderdale resident with as much, if not more, legal experience at a more reasonable salary.

What will I do?

As Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, I would notify Mr. Stewart that the City would not be extending his contract beyond the end of his current contract end date (August 2009), and would instead seek out a qualified candidate that lives in Fort Lauderdale to take his place.

That person could either be an existing Assistant City Attorney, or someone in private practice here in Fort Lauderdale who wants to expand their level of legal experience.