Many of the agency directors hired by new District Mayor Adrian Fenty are being paid less than their counterparts under former Mayor Anthony Williams, but in most cases the disparity can be chalked up to Fenty’s penchant for hiring temporary top aides.
The salary breakdown of 26 Cabinet members, provided by the administration, shows that at least nine accepted pay cuts in comparison with their predecessors. Six will be paid more, and at least seven will be paid the same.
Directors’ salaries fell in the midpoint of the executive service range, said Mafara Hobson, Fenty spokeswoman. Interim directors, those who were promoted from within the government but might not win the permanent job, were each given a 5 percent pay increase — leaving their salaries much lower than those of the people they replaced.
Fenty has so far hired 15 interim directors.
“The administration simply based the salaries according to the District’s pay scale for the respective positions,” Hobson said.
The most substantial salary reduction was borne by interim Fire Chief Brian Lee, whose $138,000 pay is $30,000 less than former Chief Adrian Thompson. Lee’s stay might be short-lived: Toledo, Ohio, Fire Chief Michael Bell interviewed for the District job Thursday.
The new directors of the three offices geared toward minority matters also earn less than their predecessors.
Soohyun Koo, interim director of the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, is paid $76,996, $28,436 less than the chief under Williams. Mercedes Lemp, interim director of the Office of Latino Affairs, earns $92,972, compared with the $107,640 earned by former Director Gustavo Aguillar. And Nebiat Solomon, the director of the new Office on African Affairs, will be paid $80,000.
Emeka Moneme, the new director of the D.C. Department of Transportation, received the largest pay increase, earning $145,000, compared with the $128,000 paid to former Director Michelle Pourciau. Brender Gregory, the new personnel director, is paid $155,000 to his predecessor’s $138,167.
Both Moneme and Gregory were aides to City Administrator Dan Tangherlini during Tangherlini’s stint as acting Metro director.
Salaries for holdovers from the Williams’ administration were unchanged. But Patrick Canavan, the former director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs who took the top job at St. Elizabeths Hospital, accepted a pay cut — from $142,510 to $125,883.
