Ducey gave hefty raises to the wrong state experts

A really good reporter, like The Arizona Republic’s Craig Harris, doesn’t preach and doesn’t advocate.

Instead, a reporter like that sets down a series of facts, often with numbers in them, and lets us do the math. And when it comes to Arizona’s state government under Gov. Doug Ducey, the numbers don’t always add up.

Particularly when it comes to salaries.

This week, Harris reported on how Arizona Department of Administration Director Craig Brown gave pay raises averaging 18 percent (about $11,500) to 245 employees.

Earlier, Harris had reported how those working directly for Gov. Ducey had received pay raises of anywhere from 5 to 100 percent.

Meantime, as most of you probably know, the vast majority of state workers have not had a meaningful increase in their salaries for years.

The governor doesn’t like this type of reporting.

He refers to it as “out of context.” He doesn’t like the fact that someone like me — a columnist with the freedom to express an opinion — might (and did) suggest that the governor decided the people who work most closely with him, who make him look good, who tell him he’s great, who listen to what he has to say and do what he asks them to do, deserve a big raise.

Of course, the cash for those raises doesn’t come out of Ducey's pocket. It comes out of yours and mine.

Also, if we’re looking for a little “context” we might consider this:

Harris reports that the caseworkers within the Arizona’s Department of Child Safety, who are charged — literally — with saving the lives of children, earn a little under $42,000 a year and have had a pay raise of less than 1 percent.

Likewise, teachers in Arizona average less than $47,000 a year and got a teeny tiny raise under Ducey.

Meantime, Harris points out that the spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Administration, Megan Rose, saw her salary increased 10 percent, to $115,000, which she said was what she was being paid in the private sector.

Gov. Ducey has done the same for his press secretary, Daniel Scarpinato, increasing his pay by 14 percent, to $162,000.

The argument for such a nice salary is that the state wants to attract and retain the most competent people for important jobs

Like a public-relations flak.

Not a teacher.

Because states where teachers are valued most pay an average north of $75,000.

And not child-safety specialist. The states offering the best socialworker salaries average more than

$60,000 per year.

I’m sure that a good public-relations professional working for the state of Arizona (and being paid by us) could argue that comparisons like this represent the inflammatory work of a news columnist taking things out of context.

At least I’d hope that such a person could sell that kooky angle.

After all, in our state, a government PR flak gets paid well above what a teacher and a child-safety professional earn.

Combined.