OIB readers have speculated the last few days about the Labor Relations salary of City Council President Tom McCarthy who’s become something of a whipping boy for fiscal watchdogs unhappy with the pace of government salaries as the city faces a tax increase come July 1. So we spent the day doing some checking to place Big Mac’s salary in perspective, after reviewing city budget books and earnings of likewise officials in other Connecticut cities.
McCarthy was appointed deputy director of Labor Relations by former Mayor John Fabrizi. Shortly after Bill Finch’s election as mayor in November 2007, McCarthy was elected among his peers as president of the city’s legislative body that also approves the city budget. In Bridgeport, city employees are allowed to serve on the City Council, prohibited by the City Charter but allowed through a loophole in state law. McCarthy’s deputy director Labor Relations salary was $91,000 when he became council leader in December 2007. His pay increases as an unaffiliated, non-union member who works at the discretion of the mayor, follow the adjustments of the Bridgeport City Supervisor’s Association. The city’s Benefits and Human Resources Departments come under McCarthy’s authority. He is also an attorney. McCarthy’s 2012 budgeted salary was roughly $112,000.
McCarthy’s salary is scheduled to increase to $114,748 for the budget year starting July 1, but he says he will give back seven of those paydays as part of the city budget that calls for $2 million in city employee concessions to offset a larger tax increase.
In 2012 the City Council approved an ordinance adjusting the salary ranges of dozens of city management positions advanced by Mayor Bill Finch to bring salaries in line with similar public sector positions, including McCarthy’s title that received a high-end $14,000 upgrade as a result of that vote. McCarthy recused himself from that vote approval. The salary update was not reflected in last year’s budget. As a result the city budget for the spending year that begins this July 1 shows a salary variance for McCarthy’s position from $99,652 to $114,748. It creates the impression McCarthy is receiving a $15,000 salary increase when in fact his salary adjustment had occurred as a result of the council’s compensation ordinance more than one year ago.
McCarthy is also an attorney who could easily slide into a position in the City Attorney’s Office paying its full-time lawyers $123,406 a year. He will earn roughly $9,000 less than that in the new budget year.
What do other cities pay deputy directors of Labor Relations?
OIB measured the salary line items for the budgets of Stamford, Norwalk, Hartford and New Haven, respectively. McCarthy’s salary follows the salaries of like positions in those cities. You may not like McCarthy’s salary, but he’s not making more than the respective positions in other cities.
It has been my experience wage and salary management takes two factors into consideration when establishing a compensation rate. First, the salary level needs to be consistent with other competing entities doing the same type of work with the same type of objectives. Second, the person selected for that role must demonstrate reasonable competency for the expected workload. I’m confident one factor has been met in this regard.
I can’t speak to competence but I am absolutely certain there are no comparables for part-timers in this position. Not a chance McCarthy isn’t spending plenty of our taxpayer-paid hours doing political work. Not a chance.
Thanks Lennie, facts are always helpful. I don’t think Tom’s salary is out of whack with the responsibilities of his job. I just think his vote on the city budget Monday night that contained a salary increase for him, and his involvement in the budget decisions demonstrated by the quotes in the recent Brian Lockhart article are a blatant set of conflicts of interest. His actions are just plain wrong. The State sends over $250 million to Bridgeport every year. Everyone needs to be concerned. This isn’t just a Bridgeport issue.
Lennie,
This posting is out of character. You are concerned with the accuracy of comments by OIB posters? You should have advised McCarthy to log in and post this comment himself rather than you presenting it as reflecting your research.
McCarthy became Assistant Labor Relations Director after David Dunn was appointed Civil Service Director when Finch dumped Ralph Jacobs.
McCarthy began City employment during the Ganim administration after staffing Ganim’s re-election campaign office.
I do not doubt the dollar amounts you are posting for the Assistant Labor Relations Director position, but McCarthy was not in the position when he became council president.
There are two issues, McCarthy’s meteoric climb in salary since he became council president, and the conflict of interest of serving on the budget-making body while employed by the City.
McCarthy, oops, I mean you claim he can be a staff attorney and be better compensated. McCarthy has a law degree and is a member of the Connecticut Bar, but, as he told me once, he does not practice law. Would the City Attorney hire someone who has not practiced law?
One last point. In your research, did you find the Assistant Labor Relations Directors of Stamford, Norwalk, Hartford or New Haven are members of their municipal bodies responsible for their municipal budgets which includes their salary or do they vote on labor contracts their office negotiated?
Tom, I daresay no scribe has harped more about the conflicts of interest on the City Council than I have. It’s impossible for members of the city’s legislative branch to serve as a check on the executive branch when they serve at the pleasure of the mayor. You don’t think McCarthy’s worthy of such a position in city government and that’s fine. No doubt he’s a big political player in the city, and has worked the political system as part of his rise. This is not a revelation in Bridgeport, or many other cities. His salary, however, is in line with what others are making in several Connecticut cities. If I found his salary to be out of line I’d have pointed that out. McCarthy did not approach me to write this piece. After seeing numerous OIB comments about this so-called $15K raise to start July 1, it struck me as odd. I checked the budget book and it didn’t make sense. Clearly there’s a mistake, intentional or not, in the budget book that would lead a reasonable person to think a raise was wired for McCarthy. Then I went back and checked the council ordinance from more than a year ago that listed the upward salary adjustments of about 100 city employees. That’s where McCarthy received his large increase. As for the city attorney’s office, if McCarthy wanted to work in that office it would be done. McCarthy has a law degree, he is loyal to the mayor, it would get done and Mark Anastasi would go right along with it.
Given McCarthy’s background, education, position on the council and political contribution through three Mayoral administrations as well as the Mayor-in-waiting should Finch not be able to finish his term, $114,000 doesn’t seem out of line or even worth discussing. Call it politics … It is what it is and I am not so sure he is overpaid. He is definitely a career politician and valuable to his party. Anyone who does not think he deserves his position and salary is sadly naive and wasting their energy to think otherwise. Call it patronage. Patronage is and always will be part of the political landscape.
What does McCarthy do for his salary? What are his specific duties, responsibilities and accomplishments? Who evaluates his performance? What are the metrics for this work in other communities?
There is no doubt in my mind McCarthy is very active on behalf of City work many hours of the day. But how much of that work is ‘political’ on behalf of Mayor Finch? How much is Labor Relations? How much is as elected leader of the City Council, the only potential check and balance structure remaining in Bridgeport governance? Can you split those hairs?
Labor relations is a critical function at all governance levels today. Reform of structures and duties must take place that have long-term effect, yet the people responsible for “management” in contrast to “labor” bear no consequence for their failure to ignore the long term and merely get by for a couple more budgets. It is not fair to the worker, the taxpayer or the long-term interest of the community. This is not merely about “parties” but about long-term service delivery at bearable costs. Bearable costs have some elasticity, but bankruptcy signs in many communities mean the contracts that bind are being stretched beyond their loadbearing capacity. Why don’t we name labor settlements after the Mayoral administrations that are responsible? Will they bear the weight and traffic of future budget years like a Finch Bridge? Time will tell.
jonathanpelto.com/2013/05/16/1-million-in-public-funds-for-bridgeport-boe-chairs-family-without-a-vote/
Lennie’s story is biased and obviously based on a script provided by McCarthy. McCarthy’s justification for his salary increase was one tried by the unions for years and rejected by McCarthy himself. Bridgeport is unique and you cannot compare wages and benefits to that of likewise positions in other towns. Why is this justification rejected for the unions but implemented for McCarthy and the privileged upper management? Why do the privileged get the bump based on likewise positions and then get the supervisors’ COLA on top of it? This is pure and utter bullshit.
Second, are the likewise positions full time? Because McCarthy, as City Council President, spends a great deal of time on Council business, not as deputy director of Labor Relations. If McCarthy were working so hard, why did his office create a new position for Sue Brannelly’s brother-in-law and why did the city spend millions in outside attorney costs to do the work specifically described in the budget as belonging to the staff in Labor Relations?
Third, instead of just comparing McCarthy’s salary, Lennie should randomly select union positions and compare those to likewise positions in other towns. He will find many are underpaid compared to other towns yet that disparity is never addressed.
I agree with Steve. It is what it is–politics pure and simple. McCarthy pushes through the mayor’s budget and gets rewarded with a $14k salary hike for his part-time labor relations job. Then he has the gall to brag about taking seve unpaid furlough days. Is he actually trying to set an example for union members like that single mom earning $40,000/year and paying $100/week towards her health benefits? Or the sanitation worker making $45,000/year and then working a second job so he can support his family and afford to pay his $100/week towards health benefits? Seriously, Tom? You should be ashamed of yourself. WWJD?
Lennie, one of the problems with the Bridgeport budget process is outlined in your article. Your article states the big raise for McCarthy came in the budget year 2012-2013 but was omitted from the budget paperwork. That is total bullshit. Let’s have this money-grubbing bastard produce his income tax returns and actually see if what you and he states is true.
Let’s be clear, any pay raise for the appointees during these troubled times is criminal. Let’s post McCarthy’s job in the want ads for $95,000 per year and then we can marvel at the number of qualified candidates who apply. BTW McCarthy voted on this year’s budget.
Having a law degree and not practicing law in the real world does not make one a lawyer.
Andy, you will not have to marvel. There must be 100’s of people qualified for that job. There is no rocket science here. Why would any administration hire outside the circle when they have people who are qualified in their family who contribute and support their leadership? Why is this even a conversation? This is politics and this will always be politics. Maybe President Obama should hire all Republicans in his cabinet and put an ad for all positions. Why help the people who put him in office?. Are you serious????????? Honestly, does anyone really believe doing a character assassination of McCarthy is going to change the outcome? BTW Tom White and Andy Fardy–both of you are seasoned politicians and should know better. I remember Mary Moran hired a few people and they were all under attack while the Democrats in every department were working to elect Joseph Ganim. Every politician deserves the luxury of having their own people. You want to advertise every job? You run for office and get elected. See how many people you get to work on your campaign. Then you may want to talk to McCarthy. Apparently he knows how to staff a campaign headquarters. lolololololololol.
Holy get the widow on the set, Batman! Jeez.
Well Steve, here you go again. These politicians all state they need raises to keep the top talent. Really? That is so much BS. Like I said, advertise the job for $95K and see how many people apply who are more qualified. As far as comparing McCarthy’s salary and raises with other communities I have this to say. How many of these communities are taking money away from their lower-tiered employees? None!!! BTW Steve, when the information is true it’s not character assassination!!!
Running on the Democratic ticket with the party endorsement you can staff your campaign headquarters with Rootie Kazootie, Howdy Doody and Steve Auerbach and win handily.
“Here you go again.” Are you channeling Reagan?
Apparently you cannot Andy, as you well know. Mary-Jane Foster’s biggest problem with her campaign is she did not have legitimate caring people working on her campaign. The bulk were miserable and disgruntled. You know, like many on this blog. People like you, Andy, could have made change but instead you have been on the DTC for years and have been part of the makeup that you now question as well as your wife. Your loathing and disgust for Mayor Finch and all of his supporters is a little extreme. I worked my ass off for every campaign I ever worked on because I believed in the candidate. Even when I worked on Moran’s campaign. Tom Bucci had appointed me to the historic Black Rock Commission and he was my attorney for my first home. I had respect for him but believed Moran could have helped the city. Mary is still a good friend. I could not imagine ever spending years spewing negative crap and feeling good about myself. Joe Ganim separated me from the city. I HAVE NEVER SPENT A MOMENT ON CHARACTER ASSAULTS. His journey ultimately spoke for itself. I did not feel joy a man with rwo small children went to jail. Because I was not a Ganim supporter I know the game. I do not like it but it is what it is. Getting back to McCarthy, $114,000 is not a ton of money for a man of his background and again, he serves his party well and there is no need to put an ad in the paper for someone to take that job for $95,000. To suggest it is silly, petty and just a political sideshow. Nobody is listening to these critiques.
First off Steve, you are 100% wrong about the people who worked on MJF’s campaign, maybe they were dissatisfied by Finch and company. Stop wearing rose-colored glasses, politics is a rough sport.
I was on the TC for years and tried to effect change from within all to no avail. Also while on the TC I primaried the TC-endorsed candidate for the council. What have you done except wring your hands and sing All is Wonderful?
As usual you missed the point of advertising in the paper and in the context it was said. The political leaders state they need to raise salaries to keep experienced appointees on the job, my point is this is just not true.
McCarthy’s background is Graduate of law school??? BFD.
I take it you feel it’s okay for the lower-tiered worker to take a two-week hit and the high-priced employees to keep getting raises. Yeah I know McCarthy said he would give back seven days, BFD.
Steve, I guess you don’t know which side of the apple to polish.
BTW instead of sitting on your ass why haven’t you helped in monitoring the budget hearings? Maybe then you would have a better understanding of what is actually going on.
Steve, you are way off base with some of your comments. Mary-Jane Fosters campaign had many, many good caring workers. Do not blame a loss on them. How about the one at the top, the campaign manager who had outside interests that came first instead of doing his job?
We/I/you worked very hard for her.
Second, Mary Moran didn’t have the right backing and experience. That did her in, and the only reason why Finch is still in office is because he is a yes man. “Yes sir, I will do what you say sir!!!”
Unfortunately Mary Moran is a Republican and this is a largely Dem city, plus she fired me when she came into office.
Finch also fired me. Wow, I got fired twice by two mayors, can anyone beat that record? 🙂
As far as McCarthy, he is also a YES man, and I am tired of persons not having their right interests in heart for this city that I live in.
Enough is enough.
It has been my experience in order to produce a good, empirically based and market-driven product from this type of research, economies of scale as well as revenue streams must be taken into consideration. Connecticut runs the gamut with prosperity sleeping next to poverty, so a person making $114k in Bridgeport City Government cannot be adequately compared to a similar professional working in the same job in Stamford. Bridgeport has nowhere near the revenue base of Stamford, and no means to secure it in the near future. Therefore the City of Bridgeport has NO BUSINESS paying their people on the same pay scale. Maybe arguments can be made for New Haven, Hartford and other cities with similarly structured tax and revenue bases as Bridgeport, but not Norwalk or Stamford. Are New Haven and Hartford on the verge of bankruptcy? I really don’t know the answer to that question. But McCarthy can feel free to move to one of those municipalities post haste. Bridgeport cannot afford it. End of story.
MS, how about Waterbury? Does that count as a reasonable match? The city has all sorts of fiscal challenges. I reviewed the Waterbury budget book and saw a number $108,000. Then in discussions with a Waterbury official I’m told the position that matches McCarthy pays $108,000.
I don’t know. I have no idea what their debt ratios are or their pension obligations or their revenue structures and how much of it is based on residential versus commercial tax revenues, and what they are alotted from the state. Are they on the bankruptcy trajectory? If all pans out in apples to apples form in comparison with Bridgeport, then Waterbury can’t afford it either. Just because other municipalities are doing it, does not make it an economically sound choice. Bridgeport can’t afford it. In answer to your question, at the end of the shakedown, Lennie, yes, Waterbury is reasonably the best match in the state.
Well, maybe New Britain too. Not sure about that one, but maybe. Anywho, commensurate to what we can afford as a City, he is overpaid. Speaking only for myself.
OKAY OKAY, I HAVE BEEN PUT IN MY PLACE BY ANDY AND PAT. YES THERE ARE MANY GREAT PEOPLE WORKING FOR MJF. THERE WERE ALSO THE SCUM OF THE EARTH. I AM MORE INTERESTED IN FOLLOWING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. I AM SATISFIED WITH YOU AND JML AS SUPERB WHISTLEBLOWERS. MY TIME IS LIMITED AND I HAVE BEEN MORE INVOLVED WITH THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN AND PUSHING FOR THE SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN MINNESOTA, DELAWARE AND RHODE ISLAND IN THE PAST WEEK AND SOON ILLINOIS. I’d like to feel I made a difference in people’s lives. Arguing about the budget and McCarthy’s job does not warrant my time. I Know my limitations when I remove my rose-colored glasses. I do know Finch is the Mayor and I do not see anything productive in fighting a losing battle. Andy, you should never have left the DNC. You could have eventually changed the party from within. It would be the equivalent of all the gays leaving New Jersey because they are the only Northeast state still without equality. Persevere. Chris Christie will sign the bill soon and you would have also had an effect hanging with your pal Mario. Pat, you got fired twice? They must have put you there initially for a good reason. It really was too bad. You were one of the few on the commission with a brain. Thank goodness for Barbara Freddino.
Lennie, I agree with and appreciate your points. McCarthy is a bright guy. His employment with the City is tied to his status in the political hierarchy, not his ability.
I am quite familiar with the ordinance setting the range for non-affiliated city employee salaries. Were you able to get a copy of the job/salary analysis that determined the new compensation for the assistant labor relations director? I tried to have one done for my former position. The current and previous personnel director agreed to do it but McCarthy stopped it. I have the e-mail exchange. I was annoying McCarthy by insisting on a job/salary analysis and it contributed to the intimidating letter from Bayonne and ultimately my illegal termination. I am looking forward to my day in court. Perhaps I will request a copy of the job/salary analysis for the assistant labor relations position in my discovery.
“Pat, you got fired twice? They must have put you there initially for a good reason.”
Using fired was not the correct term, but to the point. I was replaced by Mary Moran for one of her supporters, which I can understand.
I was not re-instated by Finch as I didn’t see things the way they wanted me to vote, they sat cross-armed at the meeting with me, Finch and Wood and did not like my replies to their questions.
I loved doing my job and took all of the training possible. Too bad the current administration doesn’t see training is necessary.
What a mess that board is in.
To your credit Pat, you ran the board and you were most professional and eloquent. You never looked like you were half asleep and bored like some of your other teammates. I think the city had made a bad move removing you, including Mary Moran. When an individual serves as a patronage position with pay or on a commission, there needs to be a thoughtful process if in fact they are serving the city in a positive and professional manner. In your case we all lost, but alas. I am certain you will most likely return at a future date. The city needs more commissioners like yourself. I am sure someone will respond and say I am engaging in obsequious badinage. I am sincere.
Thank you Steve, and good luck in your endeavors.