Over the past three years, the number of municipal employees in the county making over $100,000 a year has almost tripled, from 13 in 2008 to 37 last year.
The 2011 figure, released on March 23 as part of the province’s annual “Sunshine List,” includes 21 Wellington County employees, nine from Centre Wellington, two from Erin and one each from Minto, Guelph-Eramosa, Mapleton, Puslinch and Wellington North.
The Ministry of Finance’s annual disclosure list includes the salaries of public sector employees making more than $100,000 a year before taxes, as well as their total taxable benefits.
The local list includes 193 school board employees (up 25% from 155), 20 from conservation authorities, 11 from the Community Care Access Centre, 23 in the field of health care and promotion (up 35% from 17) and six from the Children’s Aid Society.
The goal of the legislation on which the provincial list is based is to make the public sector more open and accountable, allow taxpayers to compare performance with compensation, and provide more details on how tax dollars are spent.
Province wide, the list of civil servants making over $100,000 a year grew by more than 10% in 2011 to 78,901. The list has grown 136% since 2006, when just 33,440 reached the $100,000 threshold.
Those figures have upset some people, including officials with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
“The list is growing at an astounding rate,” said Derek Fildebrandt, national research director with the CTF. He added that growth far outstrips the growth in population or the effect of inflationary increases.
Fildebrandt said Ontarians need to look no further than the recent report from economist Don Drummond for proof of how far civil servant salaries are out of line with the rest of the province’s workforce.
“The main theme of the report is that Ontario is broke … and one of the biggest reasons for that is public sector salaries and pensions,” Fildebrandt told the Advertiser.
“We have too many public servants and too many of them are overpaid.”
Topping the Sunshine List in the Wellington County area, with a salary of $288,515, is Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health with the Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) unit. That represents a 16% pay raise over 2010, when Mercer made $249,165.
Second on the local list is former Waterloo-Wellington Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) CEO Sandra Hanmer, who made $260,000 last year, despite being let go in September.
The list of local municipal employees in the $100,000 club includes the following 21 county employees (up from 20 last year and from just nine in 2008):
– Claire McKay, information technology manager, $100,995;
– Rob Moore, roads superintendent, $101,351;
– Jill Mainland, manager of resident care at the Wellington Terrace, $102,796;
– Daniel Halk, business systems analyst, $103,082;
– Susan Farrelly, assistant director of human resources, $105,236;
– Heather Burke, director of housing, $105,888;
– Laura Holtom, assistant administrator at the Wellington Terrace, $105,888;
– Ken Dehart, manager of financial services, $106,134;
– Janice Coles, assistant chief librarian, 107,855;
– Paul Johnson, operations manager, $111,333;
– Douglas Konrad, solid waste services manager, $112,621;
– Eleanor Morris, director of nursing at the Wellington Terrace, $112,980;
– Kevin Mulholland, construction and property manager, $120,270;
– Eddie Alton, social services administrator, $131,346;
– Peter Barnes, administrator of the Wellington Terrace, $142,720;
– Craig Dyer, Treasurer, $142,720;
– Janice Hindley, museum administrator, $142,720;
– Andrea Lawson, human resources administrator, $142,720;
– Gord Ough, engineer, $142,723; and
– Gary Cousins, director of planning and development, $143,191;
– Scott Wilson, chief administrative officer (CAO), $192,522.
There were nine members of the $100,000 club in Centre Wellington in 2011, up from seven in 2010, including:
– Marion Morris, Clerk, $100,487;
– Brett Salmon, director of planning, $101,426;
– David Boyle, director of information technology and services, $102,275;
– Robert Foster, chief building official, $102,668;
– Brad Patton, fire chief, $110,866;
– Andrew Goldie, director of parks and recreation, $112,874;
– Wes Snarr, treasurer, $115,813;
– Ken Elder, director of public works, $116,377; and
– Michael Wood, CAO, $138,579.
Town Manager Lisa Hass, at $107,520, and clerk Kathryn Ironmonger, at $120,720, were the two Erin employees on the list for 2011.
The other five lower-tier municipalities each had one employee making over six figures. They are:
– Guelph-Eramosa CAO Janice Sheppard was paid $107,856.
– Mapleton CAO Patty Sinnamon, $101,256;
– Minto director of public services Norm Fisk, $101,094;
– Puslinch CAO and treasurer Brenda Law, $106,454; and
– Wellington North CAO Lorri Heinbuch, $106,949.
At Queen’s Park, Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott made $127,563 last year, while John Wilkinson, former MPP for Perth-Wellington and Minister of the Environment, made $165,851.
There are 45 Wellington Catholic District School Board employees in the $100,000 club (up from 37 for 2010), with salaries ranging from $100,507 to $229,325 for Director Don Drone.
At $205,637, Director Martha Rogers tops the list of 148 Upper Grand District School Board employees taking home over $100,000 (up 25% from 118 in 2010).
Members in the health care field making over $100,000 include:
– Melissa Layman, registered nurse at Groves hospital in Fergus, $101,695;
– Joy Carriere, registered nurse at Groves, $107,883;
– Sherri Ferguson, chief human resources officer for Groves and North Wellington Health Care (NWHC), $111,994;
– Marsha Martin, director of finance for Groves and NWHC, $118,344;
– Diane Wilkinson, vice-president of patient services for Groves and NWHC, $132,033; and
– Jerome Quenneville, CEO, Groves and NWHC, $202,562.
WDGPH unit staff members on the list rose 55%, from 11 in 2010 to 17 last year, including:
– Kristin Johnson, nurse practitioner, $103,849;
– program managers Janice Craig, Thomas Craig, Scott Hutchison, Rosalyn Larochelle, Stefan Loker, Jennifer Macleod, Dawna Monk-VanWyck, Susan Otten and Shawn Zentner who each make $102,338;
– Linda Yates, senior human resources specialist, $102,338;
– Janice Tigert-Walters, chief nursing officer, $115,642;
– Rita Sethi, director, $113,875;
– Robert Thompson, director of health protection, $133,224;
– Andrea Roberts, director of child and family health, $133,224;
– Carole Desmeules, director of finance and corporate Services, $153,207; and
– Mercer, medical officer of health and chief executive officer, $288,515 – the highest salary on the local list.
Also included locally are ten employees of the Water loo-Wellington LHIN, whose salaries range from $104,326 to $260,000 for CEO Sandra Hanmer.
There are seven Credit Valley Conservation Authority employees in the club again in 2011, with salaries ranging from $102,682 to $157,635 for CAO Rae Horst.
The Grand River Conservation Authority has 12 members again, whose salaries range from $105,331 to $148,191 for CAO Joe Farwell.
The Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority has one member on the Sunshine List: CAO James Coffey, at $104,516.
Seven employees from the Children’s Aid Society of Guelph-Wellington earned more than $100,000 in 2010 (up from six), with salaries ranging from $106,896 to $159,448 for executive director Daniel Moore.
The Waterloo Wellington Community Care Access Centre boasts 11 members (up from ten), with salaries from $102,123 to $243,206 for CEO Kevin Mercer.
Wellington County OPP employees making over $100,000 in 2011 included:
– Constable Keith Robb, $101,945;
– Constable Chris Biondi, $103,174;
– Sergeant Ron Smith, $104,071;
– Sergeant Shawn Jones, $105,334;
– Constable Mark Cloes, $106,679;
– Sharon Fisher, of the criminal investigations unit, $107,525;
– PC Steven Hunter, $107,720;
– Constable Jody Bigger, $110,287;
– Staff Sergeant Susan Gray, $111,219;
– Staff Sergeant Jack Hunjan, $114,650;
– Sergeant Bob Uridil, $125,562;
– Det. Sergeant Mary Louise Kearns, $127,149;
– Sergeant Roger Woods, $128,758;
– Inspector Scott Smith, $134,822; and
– Sergeant Michael Ashley, $152,666.
For the complete 2011 Sunshine List of public sector employees making at least $100,000 visit www.fin.gov.on.ca.
