Top state salaries jump under Dewine
In compiling his team to lead more than 40,000 state employees and oversee the spending of billions of dollars, Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine increased the salaries of most cabinet directors.
Thirteen, in fact, will be paid more than the new boss.
Randy Gardner, a veteran lawmaker named chancellor of the Department of Higher Education, is the best paid, at just over $190,000 this year — more than double the $87,663 the Bowling Green Republican earned last year as a state senator.
Dewine’s office released salary amounts Friday in response to a public-records request from The Dispatch. Other statewide executive officeholders also gave their numbers to The Dispatch upon request.
Former Gov. John Kasich vetoed a pay-raise bill for state and local elected officials last month, but he was overridden by fellow
Republicans in the General Assembly. The salaries of statewide executive officers increased 4 percent this year, to $154,248 for the governor and $113,947 for the attorney general, secretary of state, auditor and treasurer.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was granted $176,426 in annual salary after lawmakers created the new Innovateohio office and he was placed in charge. The office is designed to use technology to make state government more efficient and “user friendly.” His best-paid employee in the lieutenant governor’s office will be his chief of staff, Avi Zaffini, who will earn $119,995 this year.
State payroll records show Kasich’s chief of staff, Beth Hansen, and his cabinet directors earned an average of $149,541 each in 2017. (Final salary figures for 2018 were not yet available.) Dewine’s cabinet appointees are earning an average of $153,866 each, an increase of about $4,300, or 3 percent more. Dewine chief of staff Laurel Pressler Dawson will earn $150,010 this year, nearly $48,000 less than Hansen made.
Dewine’s senior staff in the governor’s office also includes seven employees making $130,000 to $150,010 a year.
Here’s a look at the highest salaries under the other statewide executive officers:
Attorney General Dave Yost: Chief of staff Ben Marrison will earn $159,515 a year, a $34,715 (28 percent) raise over what he made as senior adviser and communications director to Yost in the auditor’s office. Mary Mertz, first attorney general under Dewine and now Natural Resources director, earned $144,272 last year as Dewine’s highest-paid employee. Brenda Rinehart, first assistant attorney general, also will be paid $159,515 annually, a near-10 percent raise over what she made at the auditor’s office. Gregory Jackson, chief operating officer, will be paid $156,000 annually, a 3 percent raise over what he earned as chief information officer at the Department of Job and Family Services. Thirty-eight unclassified employees will make more money than Yost.
Secretary of State Frank Larose: Chief of staff Merle Madrid will be paid $140,005 annually, a decrease of nearly $10,000 from the amount paid to Matthew Damschroder when he held the same position. Kimberly Burns, operations director, will make $127,005 a year while $125,008 each will be paid to Grant Shaffer, external affairs director, and Amanda Grandjean, elections director. Ten unclassified employees will make more that Larose.
Auditor Keith Faber: Kasich budget director Tim Keen came on board as senior adviser and chief financial officer. He will earn $180,000 a year, a $7,325 cut from his salary last year as Office of Budget and Management director. Mary Degenaro, who lost election after being appointed an Ohio Supreme Court justice, will earn $150,010 a year as chief legal counsel, nearly a $14,000 reduction from her judicial salary. Chief of staff Sloan Spaulding, New Albany mayor and former section chief in the attorney general’s office under Dewine, will be paid $140,005 a year. The top-paid employee under Yost as auditor made $145,464 a year. Thirteen staff members will make more than Faber.
Treasurer Robert Sprague: Chief of staff Jody Fotlyn and deputy treasurer Marjorie Kruse each will earn $139,984 annually. Michael Lenzo, chief legal counsel, will be paid $135,000 a year. The top three employees under former two-term Treasurer Josh Mandel, a Republican, each were paid $165,006 a year. Seven employees will earn more than Sprague.