Warren Evans
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans has faced tough financial times since taking over the county.
With that in mind, some county commissioners and union officials question raises that a dozen at-will employees or appointees have received since Evans took office in January 2015. Some salaries rose as much as 25%, writes Eric Lawrence of the Detroit Free Press:
Though raises for civil service workers are typically capped at 7%, the increases the appointees received since 2015 range from 4.1% to 27.2% for Evans' staff, with two of the employees garnering increases of more than $23,000.
Andrew Kandrevas saw his position and salary change from department executive [grade] 7, making $99,750 per year, to deputy director of public services with a salary of $126,920, a 27.2% increase. And Bernard Parker III, the son of a former county commissioner, saw his salary increase from $95,000 as executive assistant 4, to $118,750 as deputy chief of staff, a 25% increase. Two other positions, however, saw salary decreases of 11.8% and 16.7% during that time because of changes in duties.
Evans spokesman James Canning said the increases represent higher pay for promotions or because employees took on additional duties such as through department mergers, strongly disputing that they are "raises."
Not everyone is buying that.
"If these are not raises, what are they? I don’t know," Al Garrett, president of the Michigan chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 25, told the Freep. "How anyone could get a $20,000 increase is beyond my . . . comprehension at all."
