It used to be Bridgeport’s mayor always made the list of the top 100 municipal wage earners. Not anymore. See list here
Recently dethroned school leader Carmela Levy-David topped the 2024 list with a gross pay $336,411, followed largely, as is now common place, by police officers leveraging plenty of overtime in an undermanned department.
Mayor Joe Ganim placed at 118 on the salary list, making $179,364.
Highlights from Brian Lockhart, CT Post:
Of the 100 highest-paid municipal staffers in 2024, only a dozen were not among Bridgeport’s men and women in blue. The only firefighters to crack that upper section of the list were Assistant Chief Jeffrey Cronin, who took the 87th slot with $189,534, Chief Lance Edwards, 91st with $187,699 and Assistant Fire Chief Boris Scott, 100th with $182,385.
After Levy-David, two police captains, Lonnie Blackwell and Paul Grech, came in second and third on the salaries list, respectively. Blackwell earned $335,744 — $114,247 of that in overtime. Grech made $335,704, including $188,853 for overtime.
Immediately following them, the remainder of the top ten highest paid employees — Sgt. Jessi Pizarro, $334,089, Officer Ilidio Pereira, $326,310, Sgt. Louis Cortello, $321,667, Officer Mark Blackwell, $314,994, Sgt. Julio Diez, $305,767, Sgt. Pasquale Feola, $291,641, Detective Vincent Lariccia, $291,488 and Lt. Albert Karpus, $288,262 — cumulatively made over $1.1 million in overtime pay.
Meanwhile, Police Chief Roderick Porter, entering his third full year as top cop, held the 111th slot on the 2024 salaries list at $181,234. Porter’s salary was lower than many of the other officers, because he’s not eligible for overtime.
Full story here
