MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – The highest-paid staff member in Mobile’s new city administration is the mayor, himself.
It is the first time in recent memory that the mayor will be Mobile’s highest-paid city employee. Nearly two dozen city workers made more than Sandy Stimpson when he was mayor, for instance.
The executive staff that Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis announced last week includes a number of holdovers, many of whom will have new titles. They mostly are getting raises, with one big exception – James Barber, who earned $210,125 as Stimpson’s chief of staff. Cheriogotis decided not to have a chief of staff. Instead, Barber will make $190,000 as chief of operations, with responsibilities over public works, finance and infrastructure.
“It’s not to say any one model is right or wrong. But, you know, being a new mayor, I wanted multiple streams of information coming to me. I need to understand from a very base level, the business of the city. And so by creating more direct reports from more experienced people, I thought it would make me a better mayor and help me to better serve them.”
Other advisers are getting raises. Joe Snowden will make almost $6,000 more to move from deputy chief of staff to chief of administrative services. Shayla Beaco, whose new title is chief of building and planning, will make more than $22,000 above her salary as executive director of Build Mobile. And Curtis Graves’ salary jumps from $131,328 to $155,000 to move from deputy director to executive director of public safety…