179,000 public salaries revealed Listing shows physicians, professionals, police, firefighters top earners
By ROBERT GAVIN, Staff writer First published in print: Friday, September 18, 2009
ALBANY -- What do a suspended Schenectady police officer, Albany County's health commissioner and several psychiatrists in Saratoga County have in common? They are all among the highest-paid municipal employees in the Capital Region, according to payroll data expected to be released today. The data, compiled by the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy, revealed the names and salaries of more than 179,000 municipal workers across the state in village, town, city and county governments for 2008 to 2009. And the information made one thing abundantly clear: It can pay to work for Saratoga County or the city of Schenectady Police Department.
Of the top 20 municipal earners in the four-county immediate Capital Region, 10 worked for the city of Schenectady, six for the county of Saratoga, joined by two Troy employees and one from both Rensselaer and Albany counties.
Within the four-county center of the Capital Region, the top three earners were identified as Dr. Ivan Engel at $194,765, Dr. Gary Oberg at $194,730 and Dr. Robert Harnick at $177,991. All three have offices listed online at 211 Church St. in Saratoga Springs, where the county mental health center is located.
The fourth top earner was Schenectady police Officer Dwayne Johnson, who made $169,461 in 2008-09, topping the Electric City and other local cities. Johnson remains on paid leave after being suspended from duty after being accused of spending early-morning hours at an apartment rather than on patrol. He was later accused of working privately at the same time he was drawing pay for a police shift. Johnson was followed by Officers Thomas Delaney at $159,389 and Thomas Adach at $151,911.
The top 20 on the list also included Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. James Crucetti at $151,906; Ray Gillen, who chairs the Metroplex Development Authority in Schenectady at $151,282; Schenectady police Officer Keith Schaffer at $146,733 and Sgt. Matt Hoy at $144,837.
Among the notable names in the top 20 were Troy Police Chief Nicholas Kaiser, ranking 13th at $147,447; by contrast, recently retired Albany Police Chief made James Tuffey finished well out of the top 20, making $105,223.
Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings finished tops among local mayors in the four-county area making $136,403. Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton earned $$96,176, Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian made $94,354 and Saratoga Springs Mayor Scott Johnson earned $14,430.
Among local district attorneys, Albany County District Attorney David Soares made $129,490, followed by Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy at $129,103; Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney at $127,469 and Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally at $118,985.
Among local city police and firefighters, Albany paid the highest average at $78,507, followed by Schenectady at $75,334; Saratoga Springs at $69,339; Troy at $68,928 and Hudson at $67,816.
Carl Strock THE VIEW FROM HERE Log on and check out local payroll Carl Strock can be reached at 395-3085 or by e-mail at carlstrock@dailygazette.com.
I was happy to see that the Empire Center for New York State Policy has augmented its already rich and rewarding Web site, http://www. seethroughny.net with the payrolls of the counties, cities, towns and villages of our fair state, so that we now have info on 179,000 people who work for our local governments. You can go to the Web site, look them up and find out how much they make. That’s in addition to the state payroll and the payrolls of school districts, public authorities and special districts, which were already on the Web site. Thus does the Internet little by little open a window on government and admit rays of sunshine, saving snoopy people like me the bother of filing Freedom of Information requests and then sometimes waiting weeks for a response. A few things that struck me in this latest electronic treasure chest: The county government employees of Schenectady are the highest paid in the eight-county Capital Region, with an average salary of $46,073. The highest paid cops and firefighters in the region are in Albany, with an average of $78,507. Those in Schenectady are second, at $75,334. Those in Mechanicville are last, at a paltry $38,060. (Note: All these numbers are for the state’s 2008-09 fiscal year, which ended March 31.) The person with the largest number of municipal employers is Raynor B. Duncombe of Schoharie, with 11, those being Schoharie County, the village of Richmondville, and nine towns ranging alphabetically from Broome to Wright, though Mr. Duncombe informs me he no longer works for Wright. He is a lawyer, and gets paid just a few thousand dollars a year from each of those entities for his legal services – a total of $37,492 last year. “I don’t like being Number One on the hit parade,” he told me goodnaturedly. I was interested in his situation because I remembered the fuss from last year when it emerged that some lawyers were being reported as regular employees of various school districts and BOCES when actually they were on contract. It makes a big difference. A regular employee is a passenger on the state retirement gravy train; a contract worker is not. Mr. Duncombe assured me he meets the requirements of a regular employee, deserving of retirement benefits, and has already been checked out. Emily De Santis, spokeswoman for the state comptroller, said he is in the process of being checked out now, to see if he qualifies. The person listed with the third most municipal employers is Ed Holland, the animal control officer in Washington County. He is shows up as being employed by six towns plus one village, but he tells me the actual number is 14, which would blow Mr. Duncombe out of the water, or out of the hit parade. The reason for the discrepancy, he says, is that some of those are on a contract basis and thus do not count for state retirement purposes. His pay is modest, a total of just $14,621 for the seven salaried positions, plus what he gets from the contractual gigs as well as from lodging animals in the shelter that he owns. Nor is the pay necessarily reflective of the work he performs. He gets a token $225 a year from the village of Greenwich, for example, but when I talked to him the other day he said, “I just picked up a skunk there, and it took me an hour. “I’m not getting rich,” he said. I suggested to him he consider becoming a cop, which is more lu- crative, but I did not convince him. He said, “One thing about an animal, I can generally tell you what an animal is going to do. People are different. People are unpredictable.” Among the many things that did not surprise me was the fact that 59 Schenectady cops and firefighters made more than $100,000 last year, led by police officer Dwayne Johnson with $169,461. He’s the fellow who is suspected of working as a private security guard at a Hess station at the same time he was supposed to be on duty as a cop, and then cheating both employers by spending his hours at an apartment. He has been on leave — paid leave — since February....................>>>>............>>>>...............................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01300&AppName=1
Have you all checked out this website mentioned in this posting? http://www.seethroughny.net/StatePayroll/tabid/69/Default.aspx?BRANCHID=13...and type Rotterdam in the "Agency/Area" field...take a look at the salaries being paid to our town employees! Seems like some info is missing, i.e. the retirees who have returned to payroll. The current administration sure treats their employees quite well!
Have you all checked out this website mentioned in this posting? http://www.seethroughny.net/StatePayroll/tabid/69/Default.aspx?BRANCHID=13...and type Rotterdam in the "Agency/Area" field...take a look at the salaries being paid to our town employees! Seems like some info is missing, i.e. the retirees who have returned to payroll. The current administration sure treats their employees quite well!
No...not just this current administration. ALL OF THEM...past and present!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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