Raises undermine message
Agovernor who stresses the need for budget austerity should not hand out double-digit raises to his inner circle. We shouldn’t have to say this. Gov. Doug Ducey should not need a tutorial on why giving hefty raises to some staffers and political appointees cuts against the message he’s been preaching to the rest of the state.
Yet Ducey gave raises to most of his staff since his election in 2015, according to records obtained by The Republic’s Craig Harris. He also promoted at least 40 employees, with pay increases ranging from 5 to 100 percent.
Harris’ reporting found that the average Ducey staffer got an 11 percent pay hike since Ducey took office.
Most state workers did not get salary increases. Merit pay for selected workers raised the average pay 4.2 percent. This equals the increase in the consumer price index.
The average state employee makes $45,981, according to Harris. Political appointees do much better. Jeff Fleetham, director of the Registrar of Contractors and a Ducey campaign donor, got nearly a 13 raise. He now makes $115,000.
Greg McKay, director of the Department of Child Safety got a 33 percent pay increase. He now makes $215,250 a year.
Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead got a 12.6 percent raise to $197,000 a year.
Kevin Donnellan, a longtime friend and business associate of the governor’s, got a 41 percent increase in 2015 when he was promoted to deputy director of the state Department of Administration at a salary of $161,200. He also got stipends and bonuses.
Ducey spokesperson Daniel Scarpinato, whose pay increased by 14 percent in two steps to $162,000, said, “The governor wants the best people who will do the best work for taxpayers."
No doubt.
Parents also expect teachers to do the best work for the state’s children.
But when Ducey proposed a tiny pay increase for teachers last legislative session, he insisted that was all the state could afford.
He proposed a 2 percent teacher raise spread over five years. Arizona lawmakers increased that to 2 percent over two years. Ducey went along.
Our elementary-school teachers are the lowest-paid in the nation, and highschool teachers rank 48th in pay.
A teacher shortage is a problem across the state, as are large class sizes.
Many in the state want public schools to have far more funding in general. A lawsuit challenges the state’s underfunding of school repairs, maintenance and capital improvements.
Ducey has met calls for more funding with somber reminders about the importance of living within an austere state budget.
The juxtaposition of that message with the revelation that Ducey gave big raises to members of his inner circle is more than poor optics.
It’s more than a ready made campaign slogan for his Democratic opponents in the next election.
It represents the failure to lead by example.
Let’s be clear. The sums involved in pay raises to these Ducey staffers and political appointees are not enough to pay for teacher raises.
Not even close. The amounts Ducey handed out are minuscule in the overall budget.
But the principle is big.
This represents a lost opportunity for Ducey to show leadership by holding his own to the same austere standard he preaches for the rest of the state.
The governor should have known better.