By: Markham Heid and Brian Hughes

Washington Examiner

January 12, 2010

Maryland department head salaries Name Salary Job Title Department

Nancy Grasmick $195,000 superintendent state schools

John Colmers $161,930 secretary Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Thelma Foster $161,930 secretary Department of Budget and Management

Alexander Sanchez $155,000 secretary Labor, Licensing and Regulation

Beverley Swaim-Staley $140,460 secretary Department of Transportation

Virginia department head salaries

Name Salary Job Title Department

Daniel Lavista $234,000 executive director State Council of Higher Education

Karen Remley Onufer $191,906 commissioner Department of Health

David Ekern $189,280 commissioner Department of Transportation

Daniel Timberlake $150,000 director Department of Planning and Budget

Dolores Esser $124,741 commissioner Employment Commission

Dozens of department heads in Maryland and Virginia will draw six-figure salaries this year -- and so will many of their underlings -- despite slashing jobs and ditching public projects to avoid tumbling further into the red.

In Maryland, administration leaders will make roughly $160,000 this fiscal year. That includes newly appointed Secretary of Labor Alexander Sanchez, whose salary was recently bumped up $15,000 higher than that of his predecessor, despite the state's 7 percent unemployment rate.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's spokesman, Shaun Adamec, stressed that Sanchez's salary was merely brought in line with the compensation packages of other Cabinet chiefs, and that Sanchez had taken a pay cut from his previous job.

"He made well over $200,000 at the United Way, and now makes $155,000 working for the people of Maryland," Adamec said.

In Virginia, most of the state's department chiefs saw no change in their compensation packages, some of which topped $200,000.

Both states are seeking to cut billions of dollars as their respective legislatures get set to tackle their projected budget gaps.

In addition to high-income department heads, some state government agencies are home to dozens of staffers earning more than $100,000 a year.

More than 180 Virginia Department of Transportation employees, for example, will make six figures this year, according to public records obtained by The Examiner -- this in the midst of a recent series of layoffs. Just last week, nearly 700 VDOT workers received pink slips as part of an agencywide effort to stanch the massive overflow of transportation spending.

"The layoffs have been all the way through the organization, from secretaries to engineers," said spokesman Jeff Caldwell, adding that he didn't know the extent of upper-level dismissals.

According to the state's records, VDOT slashed about 5 percent of jobs paying out six figures compared with last year.

While Maryland has chopped roughly 3,300 government positions during the past three years, the state increased its number of six-figure earners by 11 percent from fiscal 2009 to 2010.

That group comprises more than 100 transportation department workers, including Port Authority Executive Director James White, whom the state pays just over a quarter of a million dollars a year -- almost $100,000 more than Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley.

"That is a highly technical, highly skilled job that simply has to be marketable to attract the right talent," Adamec said, emphasizing the economic effect of the Port of Baltimore on the state's economy.

mheid@washingtonexaminer.com

2010-03-05