Mayor Vincent Gray has slashed the salaries of several top political appointees just days after a D.C. Council report found the salaries were on pace to break city regulations, a Gray spokeswoman confirmed to The Washington Examiner on Tuesday. Gray has been criticized for the high salaries he has been paying members of his administration, but has previously stood by those salaries saying they were needed to attract top talent to the city. Over the past two days, though, he has quietly told appointees whose rates of pay were set to break the legal annual limit that they would be cut down to the cap imposed by city regulations, administration and council sources confirmed.
The hardest hit is D.C. schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, whose $275,000 annual salary will be trimmed to $179,096.
She could not be reached for comment.
| Pay cuts |
| Reduced to $193,125: |
| Gray’s Chief of Staff Gerri Mason Hall, from $200,000 |
| City Administrator’s Chief of Staff Warren Grave, from $195,000 |
| Reduced to $179,096: |
| Dept. of Health Director Mohammad Ahkter, from $180,000 |
| Dept. of Human Resources Director Judy Banks, from $180,000 |
| Fire Chief Ken Ellerbe, from $187,000 |
| D.C. schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, from $275,000 |
| Attorney General Irvin Nathan, from $180,000 |
| Dept. of Health Care Finance Director Wayne Turnage, from $180,000 |
| D.C. Council action |
| Also on Tuesday: |
| » At-large Councilman Phil Mendelson introduced a bill requiring Walmart to pay its workers a “living wage” set at $11.75 an hour. |
| » Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas introduced a bill to create a medallion system for D.C. taxis similar to that in New York City, where drivers own a medallion that is needed to legally pick up fares. Mayor Gray is behind the idea and it’s likely to gain traction. |
| » The council moved forward with setting the date for the presidential and local primary on the first Tuesday in April 2012. |
Just last week, the Gray administration told Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh’s office that “the mayor all along intended to submit legislation that would authorize the beyond-the-range compensation for all relevant appointments,” according to Cheh’s report citing the potentially illegal salaries. “This is because there may be other instances where the mayor concludes that, under the circumstances, an appointee should be paid beyond the cap.”
Gray’s spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment as to why the mayor has seemingly changed his position.
The Gray administration has been dogged by charges of impropriety, including that he has padded the city’s payroll with high-paying jobs for friends and political allies. Former mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown has charged that the ‘Gray for Mayor’ campaign passed him envelopes stuffed with cash to stay on the campaign trail and attack then-Mayor Adrian Fenty. Brown also claims he was promised a job in the Gray administration if he kept up those attacks. Brown landed a job in the mayor’s administration with a $110,000 annual salary. He was fired after media reports raised questions about his background. Now the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI are looking into Brown’s claims.
Cheh’s report found that eight top officials — including Henderson, Gray’s Chief of Staff Gerri Mason Hall, and Attorney General Irvin Nathan — were set to break the caps for their positions by the end of the year. It also raised questions about nepotism after children of two top Gray officials were given city jobs. Both have resigned.
Cheh told The Examiner on Tuesday that she plans to move forward with a March 28 hearing on the matter, where she hopes to determine who approved the original salaries and why.
“This is not the end of the story,” Cheh said. “We still have to inquire about the salaries themselves. The fact that you’re allowed to go to a certain amount doesn’t mean you should.”
