By Juan Montoya
Ever wonder what it takes in legal and management costs to keep the City of Brownsville operating as it is, a well-oiled machine?
The city's mission statement reads: "To provide our customers efficient and quality municipal services with courtesy and concern."
Toward that end, the city – the poorest in the country, according to numerous surveys – has hired the top legal and management guns (literally) to provide the vaunted efficiency in the mission statement.
Local residents put up with bad streets, chronic flooding, and an occasional scandal or sexual escapade from some city employees, but we never really know how well compensated those in the higher echelons of the city are.
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A public information request has yielded some interesting facts about the pay grades in the legal and management ranks that run our city.
(Click on graphic below to enlarge)
At the top of the managerial pecking order is city manager Charlie Cabler with a $220,000 salary, followed closely by city attorney Mark Sossi at $180,000 ($120,000 annual retainer and another $60,000 from the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, GBIC, to sit in one their meetings).
In fact, Sossi's take in a year is almost half (44.1 percent) of the $407,000 paid to the other five staff members (lawyers and legal secretaries) in the department. The department's lowest paid legal secretary at $26,416 earns just under 15 percent of what Sossi is paid.
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The department's assistant city attorney makes $55,606.25, the city prosecutor another $45,020.25 and the deputy city attorney makes $72,275.84.
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And all that has been in the works since July 2009 when Sossi , Cabler and then-mayor Pat Ahumada signed on to a one-page contract that has netted Sossi at least $1,260,000 in the seven years that it has been in effect. (that's million with an "M".)
The situation with Cabler has not been much different.
His department's payroll totals $878,153, with his $220,000 totaling a little over one-quarter of it.
Low on the totem pole is an administrative specialist whose $21,786 annual salary equals less than 10 percent of what the boss takes home.
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But on the high end, the city commissioners have seen fit to provide Cabler, an ex-cop, with three assistant city managers with salaries of $119,999.8, $123,600.05, and $139,049.87 to help him keep the city running smoothly. Between the three assistants and Cabler, they gobble up $602,649.84, or about 70 percent (actually 68.6 percent) of the department's salary budget.
Take a look around the city and its appearance and think about the legal entanglements that the city has had to endure (and pay for in legal fees and lawsuit settlements). Are we getting our money's worth?
Ever wonder what it takes in legal and management costs to keep the City of Brownsville operating as it is, a well-oiled machine?
The city's mission statement reads: "To provide our customers efficient and quality municipal services with courtesy and concern."
Toward that end, the city – the poorest in the country, according to numerous surveys – has hired the top legal and management guns (literally) to provide the vaunted efficiency in the mission statement.
Local residents put up with bad streets, chronic flooding, and an occasional scandal or sexual escapade from some city employees, but we never really know how well compensated those in the higher echelons of the city are.
A public information request has yielded some interesting facts about the pay grades in the legal and management ranks that run our city.
(Click on graphic below to enlarge)
At the top of the managerial pecking order is city manager Charlie Cabler with a $220,000 salary, followed closely by city attorney Mark Sossi at $180,000 ($120,000 annual retainer and another $60,000 from the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, GBIC, to sit in one their meetings).
In fact, Sossi's take in a year is almost half (44.1 percent) of the $407,000 paid to the other five staff members (lawyers and legal secretaries) in the department. The department's lowest paid legal secretary at $26,416 earns just under 15 percent of what Sossi is paid.
And all that has been in the works since July 2009 when Sossi , Cabler and then-mayor Pat Ahumada signed on to a one-page contract that has netted Sossi at least $1,260,000 in the seven years that it has been in effect. (that's million with an "M".)The situation with Cabler has not been much different.
His department's payroll totals $878,153, with his $220,000 totaling a little over one-quarter of it.
Low on the totem pole is an administrative specialist whose $21,786 annual salary equals less than 10 percent of what the boss takes home.
But on the high end, the city commissioners have seen fit to provide Cabler, an ex-cop, with three assistant city managers with salaries of $119,999.8, $123,600.05, and $139,049.87 to help him keep the city running smoothly. Between the three assistants and Cabler, they gobble up $602,649.84, or about 70 percent (actually 68.6 percent) of the department's salary budget. Take a look around the city and its appearance and think about the legal entanglements that the city has had to endure (and pay for in legal fees and lawsuit settlements). Are we getting our money's worth?