Fairfax County supervisors are vowing to slash their officebudgets in coming weeks, saying they aren’t immune from cuts imposed on most county agencies.
Still, the supervisors’ budgets have climbed from last year. And some of them pay their staffers more than they earn.
Multiple supervisors said they will trim their own spending as they impose cuts on police, firefighters and parks, among other departments, in meeting a $257 million budget gap.
County Executive Anthony Griffin recommended freezing supervisors’ funding for fiscal 2011, slating $425,000 for supervisors’ offices and nearly $475,000 for Chairwoman Sharon Bulova’s — about $25,000 more than in the final fiscal 2009 budget.
Budget pledges are a precarious balancing act for supervisors who don’t want to look hypocritical but also want to preserve enough staff and resources to serve constituents.
“I’ll be honest with you; if it gets to the point where I’m going to lose a position, I’m going to vote against it,” said Supervisor Jeff McKay, D-Lee, pointing to staffs of around a half-dozen for most supervisors.
The top 5
Highest-paid staffers for Fairfax County supervisors:
» Supervisor Pat Herrity: Dave Foreman, $117,000
» Supervisor Michael Frey: Meaghan Kiefer, $89,000
» Supervisor John Cook: Ryan Kelly, $80,000
» Supervisor Gerald Hyland: Brett Kenney, $75,900
» Supervisor Jeff McKay: Linda Waller, $72,000
Griffin proposed eliminating more than 280 county positions in the budget that is set to be adopted next month. Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield, suggested cutting funding between 10 and 15 percent for supervisors. Bulova alluded to a potential 5 percent cut for each office.
“I find it ironic that Herrity threw out that number when he has the highest-paid employee of all of us,” McKay said of the proposal. “If I was paying my people what Herrity paid his chief of staff, maybe I wouldn’t have a retention issue.”
Herrity devoted more than a quarter of his budget — $117,000 — to his chief of staff, Dave Foreman, who worked for former Virginia Rep. Tom Davis.
Herrity said it was necessary to retain the talent to run his “active” office.
Supervisors Michael Frey, John Cook and Gerald Hyland also dole out more than $75,000 — the salary for supervisors — for their chiefs of staff.
In comparison, Providence Democratic Supervisor Linda Smyth spent $323,000 last budget year, the lowest among all supervisors.
