D.C. lawmakers are moving ahead on letting some city agency heads — including the police chief and schools chancellor — earn more money than previously allowed, but so far have stopped short of pushing for transparency regarding other perks for those officials. The bill the council is considering creates a salary exception for the current pay of Police Chief Cathy Lanier, Chief of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Kenneth Ellerbe, D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson and Chief Medical Examiner Marie-Lydie Pierre-Louis.
The proposal, entered at the request of Mayor Vincent Gray, allows all four mayoral appointees to keep their salaries, which range from $180,000 to $275,000 annually. However it caps the annual pay at their current value and says that whoever succeeds those officials in the jobs are not entitled to similar pay. Lanier and Henderson earn far more than Mayor Vincent Gray’s annual salary of $200,000.
| Top city earners |
| The highest annual salaries on the District’s city payroll: |
| Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson: $275,000 |
| Police Chief Cathy Lanier: $253,817 (including longevity pay) |
| Mayor Vincent Gray: $200,000 |
| Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe: $187,302 |
| Medical Examiner Marie-Lydie Pierre-Louis: $185,000 |
City workers’ annual salaries higher than $179,096 need council approval. The top agency heads’ salaries prompted the council to issue a report recommending salary caps for the executive appointees.
But at Tuesday’s introduction of the bill, Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh tried to add an amendment that would require the mayor to post online within 30 days any employment agreement, including perks, between an agency head and the District.
But the proposal for more disclosure was temporarily batted back by Ward 4 Councilwoman Muriel Bowser and Chairman Kwame Brown, who said they thought making those deals easily accessible could harm the District.
“Don’t you think that would damage us in [future] negotiations?” said Bowser. “Why would the next person accept any less?”
Brown added that “if a candidate sees that a previous person got all these perks … they’re going to want all those perks.”
Cheh has agreed to work with her colleagues to rewrite a proposal for more disclosure.
Gray has been plagued with hiring problems since his administration began.
Most notably, Rochelle Webb, the nominee for D.C. Department of Employment Services director, spent her first two months in the District living at the swanky W Hotel on the taxpayer’s dime and had a chauffeured ride back and forth to work.
Webb’s nomination was later withdrawn by Gray.
