Officials seeing green

Cops, clerks, managers among Valley's best-paid

December 31, 2006

By MATT TUNSETH/Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Eleven of the top 20 highest-paid city employees in Wasilla are members of the police force. In Palmer, seven of the 20 highest-paid work in the Public Works department, including two mechanics and three equipment operators. And Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy is the highest-paid municipal official in the Valley, raking in an annual gross salary of just more than $115,000 per year.

Salary information for 2006 provided by the three government entities to the Frontiersman provides a glimpse into how the governments are managed as well as a basis for showing how well-compensated public officials are compared to some of their counterparts.

For example, Duffy's counterpart in Palmer, city manager Thomas Healy, made $87,000 last year to lead that city's list. But in Wasilla, a police lieutenant who's been with the department for 13 years tops the list at $89,430 per year in gross wages.

The clerk's position, one that most city officials will agree is among the most vital for the day-to-day operations of a municipality, is a well-paid one. But salary information shows it's more lucrative to be a clerk at the borough than anywhere else, where Michelle McGehee makes more than $75,000 a year, compared with $72,373 for Wasilla clerk Kristie Smithers and $62,005 for Palmer's Janette Bower.

One position that is similar, ranking-wise, at all three is that of finance director, which is either second- or third-highest paid at each. But like the clerk's position, the borough is the place to be, with Tammy Clayton pulling in $108,208 a year, while Wasilla's Ted Leonard gets $84,995 and Palmer's Dean Baugh makes $74,069.

Wasilla is definitely where police officers do the best. The city's highest-paid employee is Lt. James Robinson, who made $89,430 in gross wages in 2006. Robinson, along with several other officers on the list, has been with the department since its inception in 1993.

Police officers, in fact, account for more than half of the top 20 in Wasilla. Eleven of the 23-member police force cracked the list, including the lieutenant, six officers, two sergeants, an investigator and the chief, who actually ranked eighth within his own department. Chief John Glass' salary, however is a set amount, while other officers on the list made anywhere between $5,000 and $15,000 in overtime over the course of the year.

Lists of how much each of the top-20 wage earners in each municipality made, as well as current pay rates, benefits (insurance, public employee retirement, etc.) and the amount of each employee's last raise appear elsewhere on this page.

Contact Matt Tunseth at

352-2265 or matt.tunseth@ frontiersman.com