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Henry column: Who else gets a raise after being fired?
| Wednesday, Oct 10 2007 8:05 AM
Last Updated: Saturday, Aug 11 2007 10:26 PM
Just when you thought Steve Ladd couldn't possibly suck one more taxpayer dime into the giant Hoover bag attached to his pockets -- cha-ching!
The former executive director of the
First 5 Kern agency fired -- yes, fired -- in April will be enjoying a 7 percent cost of living adjustment (a raise) approved by the commission in June.
How someone gets the boot in April and then a raise in June involves something called "personal leave," which Ladd will be on, at full pay, until January 18. More on that later.
As for the COLA, Ladd e-mailed me to explain it was given to all employees.
"The Executive Director received the same COLAs as all employees; no more, no less. Why would it be otherwise?"
Here's why.
Executive directors of such agencies, just like CEOs of companies, negotiate their contracts separately, typically getting far more money and perks than the rank and file.
COLAs are meant to keep employees current with the "cost of living," not give the top brass an extra helping -- particularly when we're talking about public money.
It just plain stinks and First 5 Kern commission members should know better.
One look at Ladd's contract shows he had no problem negotiating his own salary and perks.
In fact, it makes you wonder if the commission had anyone negotiating on their side (our side).
When Ladd took the job in 1999, he earned $60,000. By the time he was fired, he'd negotiated that base salary up to $113,000 a year. Add in the 7 percent COLA and Ladd is walking out the door at $121,157, according to the latest addendum to his contract.
But wait, that's not all.
Over the years, Ladd's contract also granted him Kern County department head-level health benefits or the equivalent in cash, a home computer that cost more than $6,000 in 2002 that he gets to keep, a high-speed Internet connection, a car allowance plus mileage and a 15-percent match of his base salary paid into a county-run retirement account.
Then there was the golden parachute to end all golden parachutes.
In 2004, the commission inconceivably voted to pay Ladd a full year's salary if he was ever fired "without cause." Guess how he was fired? Yup. So at the end of this lengthy personal leave, he'll get a big fat payout of $121,157. On a side note: Some may quibble over the word "fired," but in my neck of the woods, you either quit, get laid off, or you're fired -- and all the spin in the world doesn't change that reality.
But back to the COLA.
Ladd and others at First 5, which takes money from the 50-cent per pack cigarette tax and doles it out to local programs geared toward early childhood development, equate Ladd's position to that of a county department head.
County department heads don't get COLAs, according to County Administrative Officer Ron Errea. Rank-and-file employees get COLAs. Department heads get raises separately, which you can read more about on Page A1 today.
I also checked with a couple of executive directors of large nonprofit agencies and, no, they don't get COLAs, either. Unless it's in your contract, you don't get it, they told me. I read Ladd's contract and it's not in there.
I asked Ladd several questions via voice mail and e-mail to understand how this all played out.
Ladd characterized his arrangements as perfectly acceptable and prefaced his last response with this:
"Isn't it about time your ed board got past this ridiculous preoccupation with my employment agreement? First 5 Kern has new leadership. Move on."
I asked Commission Chairman Roland Maier how Ladd could even qualify for the COLA, which went to all "permanent" First 5 employees, after having been fired in April. Maier said that Ladd's personal leave means he is technically still an employee until Jan. 18.
Oh, baloney.
If Ladd wanted to take another job between now and January, do you think he'd hesitate? Heck no. And why should he, since he was -- I repeat -- FIRED in April?
Commission members need to rescind that 7 percent COLA to Ladd and make sure their policies explicitly exclude the executive director from any future COLAs.
Speaking of the new executive director, Wendy Wayne, who took over earlier this month, she said she has no intention at this point of taking a COLA.
She also won't be enjoying the same "Laddesque" benefits in her contract.
No home computer for her. She'll still be eligible for the same health benefits as county department heads, but if she wants the cash instead, she'll only get 50 percent of the value.
And no golden parachute.
Good for the First 5 Kern commission and Wayne for bringing the contract at least somewhat closer to earth.
Oh, about that extensive personal leave Ladd is on?
Personal leave at First 5 is vacation and/or sick time and is accrued monthly. New employees begin at 2 days per month, as did Ladd at the start of his tenure.
At some point, and no one at First 5 can remember when or at whose direction, the personal leave policy was changed, giving employees credit for years worked at other government agencies.
For Ladd, that meant by March 2007 -- after about 61/2 years on the job -- he was accruing time off at 3.5 days per month, a rate reserved for employees with 25 years of service, because he previously had worked for the county for 20 years.
Maier said it's important for First 5 to have competitive salaries and perks such as personal leave. Otherwise, it will lose good people.
"We don't want to become a training ground for other county agencies," he said.
I'm not arguing against paying good employees a decent wage. But Steve Ladd was more than adequately compensated, and since it was the board that let him go I don't think First 5 was in danger of losing him to another agency.
He had a good ride, and when it was over he got far more than most people in his position. He doesn't deserve a 7 percent cost of living adjustment for the time he's spending not working.
The commission must restore the public's confidence that its members have a grip on the public purse strings. Rescinding Ladd's COLA is a good place to start.
Staff writer Gretchen Wenner contributed to this report.
-- Lois Henry's column appears every Sunday. Comment on this column at http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/noholdsbarred or e-mail her at lhenry@bakersfield.com or call her at 395-7373.