Police chiefs cost Niagara $480,000
Sunshine list of public employees making more than $100,000 released
Niagara taxpayers paid more than $482,000 to two police chiefs in 2017, according to annual Sunshine list released Friday.
The list of public employees who earn $100,000 or more annually shows former Niagara Regional Police chief Jeff McGuire was paid $231,518 while his replacement, current chief Bryan MacCulloch, was paid $251,046.
McGuire retired in June after the police services board, chaired by Niagara Falls regional councillor Bob Gale, offered him $870,000 plus perks and benefits to leave the service three years before his contract expired.
MacCulloch, who served as one of McGuire's two deputy chiefs, was hired as the next chief in September.
The board has declined to release MacCulloch's salary as chief. The Sunshine list figure includes his less than four months as chief in 2017, and his time as a deputy and acting chief.
The Sunshine list only includes salary before taxes, and so does not include McGuire's retirement package.
The former chief received half the cash payout — $435,000 — in July and the rest by mid-January.
The list also does not show the retirement package of former NRP Deputy Chief Joe Matthews, who retired in January 2017 and earned $103,481 in salary that year.
The NRP also paid Deputy Chief Bill Fordy, who was hired in May, a salary of $102, 296 and longtime Deputy Chief Brent Flynn $192,655.
As has been the case for many years, administrators from Niagara Health were the highest paid public servants in Niagara in 2017. Dr. Thomas Stewart, the hospital system chief of staff, topped the list with $428,217. Niagara Health president, Suzanne Johnston, made $333,733.
The City of St. Catharines had 151 employees on the 2017 Sunshine list while Niagara Falls had 61 and Welland had 44.
The top earners in all three cities were the CAOs, followed by the Fire Chiefs.
In St. Catharines, there are two CAOs on the list because CAO Dan Carnegie retired in July. Shelley Chemnitz, then-commissioner of corporate services, filled his role in an acting capacity until she was appointed permanently to the role in November.
In the education field, heads of schools topped the salaries at their institutions.
Niagara College President Dan Patterson hauled in $322,179.68. Brock’s top earner at $318,576.00 was Tom Traves, the interim president until Gervan Fearon began the job on August 1.
District School Board of Niagara director of education Warren Hoshizaki came in at $271,928.13 while Niagara Catholic District School Board director of education John Crocco made $216,787.88.
Niagara Region's top earner was Dr. Val Jaeger, who made $284,616.
The Region's top bureaucrat, regional CAO Carmen D'Angelo, was paid $230,000.
Ontario treasury department publishes the Sunshine annually and can be found online at http:// bit.ly/sunshine2017.