Sunday, October 10, 2010

Bob Freeman's Rant on Trustee Raises

Bob keeps ranting about Fred and Sandy Barkes' raises since 2003, so I decided to do a little investigating into the matter (since I know Bob will not).  Bob wrote on columbuzz "...very few are saying anything about the ridiculous raises the Columbus Township Trustee has been giving himself and his wife."  Obviously Bob doesn't understand the trustee budget process.  Here's the actual process from the trustee himself:
  • The Trustee suggests a budget and meets with the Township Board (3 elected every 4 years) 1-3 times (more if needed) to agree on a budget.
  • That budget then goes to the County Council for County approval.
  • Then there are 2 public meetings before it gets final approval by the Township Board.
  • It then goes back to the County and on to the Dept. of Local Gov. Finance.
  • After the DLGF determines the monies they feel we will receive, we will receive the final approved budget.
  • The Trustee then executes the final budget.
So the trustee can't just give himself and his wife raises.  There are checks and balances in the system.

Plus, Bob keeps repeating the same numbers over and over:  Fred Barkes' salary has increased 40% since 2003 and his wife Sandy's 52%.  On the surface, these percentages sound high, but when you analyze the numbers, which I'm about to do, you will see a much different story.  By the way, Bob claimed these percentages averaged out to 6% and 7% per year but the actual averages are 5% and 6%.  I'm sure it was just a math error, not a purposeful exaggeration.  Anyway, here is a table of Fred Barkes' raises by year:

YEAR  SALARY   CHANGE  NOTES
2003  $30,925
2004  $32,500  +5.1%   increased hours to full time
2005  $36,500  +12.3%  raise + salary adjustment
2006  $37,700  +3.3%   raise
2007  $40,000  +6.1%   raise
2008  $42,000  +5%     raise
2009  $42,000  0%      no raise
2010  $43,260  +3%     raise

The salary adjustment in 2004 was because of increased hours.  The salary adjustment in 2005 was because it was determined that the trustee was underpaid.  The dollar amount of the salary increase was $4000, $1000 raise and $3000 adjustment.  The method used to determine that the trustee was underpaid was that the County Auditor, County Treasurer, County Assessor, and Township Assessor salaries were compared (all are scheduled to work 40 hours) to calculate an hourly rate and then the rate was multiplied by 35 hours to determine the trustee's salary.  Now, to be fair, salary adjustments such as increased hours, being underpaid, and promotions should be factored out when determining and comparing average raises.  If I factor out the 2004 adjustment ($1575) and the 2005 adjustment ($3000), the total percent increase since 2003 is 22%, an average of 2.8% per year.

Now let's look at Sandy Barkes:

YEAR  SALARY   CHANGE  NOTES
2003  $27,210
2004  $28,200  +3.6%   raise
2005  $29,200  +3.5%   raise
2006  $32,000  +9.6%   raise + promotion
2007  $39,000  +21.9%  raise + promotion
2008  $40,000  +2.6%   raise
2009  $40,000  0%      no raise
2010  $41,200  +3%     raise

The salary adjustments in 2006 and 2007 were because of promotions.  The dollar amount of the 2006 salary increase was $2800, $900 raise and $1900 promotion.  For 2007, it was $7000, $2750 raise and $4250 promotion.  Again, if we factor these out, the total percent increase since 2003 is 24%, an average of 3.1% per year.

So 22% and 24% sound a lot better than 40% and 52%, don't you think?  And why didn't the great investigator Bob Freeman do an analysis on the numbers to get to the truth?  Good question.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

the calculator was smarter then Bob. That is my guess

Bob Freeman said...

The facts are, they gave themselves a 40% and 52% increase in pay in the past 7 years.
(Columbus city employees received only 16% during the same time period.)

It would be outrageous for people to get this much of an increase in pay if they WERE doing their job correctly.

It's even worse when people give themselves these increases when they are as incompetent as this gang has been.

It's FACT, and it's WRONG.

Bob Freeman said...

2006 and 2007 31.5% increase for his wife.

That's about the time she went in and disrespected a roomful of mourners during a funeral.

It looks to me like she earned those promotions, if the Trustee was needing a cold hearted employee to do something unforgivable, rude, and stupid.

If that was his goal, she more than qualified.

Anonymous said...

well he still having trouble with his calculator I see

Dude said...

Bob, did you even read my post or did you just not understand it? I can show my calculations in detail if you'd like.

Anonymous said...

Bob - it is clear that math is not your strongest subject. And just to be clear, Sandy Barkes and I are not friends, but as someone who actually thinks logically and can add, I simply can't understand your logic and position.

From everything I have read, you are really nothing more than a yellow "journalist" (headlines are your objective) and an intellectually-inferior wanna-be bully.

It's sad when you try so hard to be a bully and can't even pull that off. I've seen kids on the playground that would put you to shame and could probably kick your butt in dodgeball - or is that game not ok in your liberal / 'everyone is a winner' world?

Anonymous said...

I see Bob almost went a whole day without calling someone a name online. He's slipping. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Bob Freeman's idea of civility and professionalism at work.

Dude said...

Bob wrote "2006 and 2007 31.5% increase for his wife." Proof that Bob doesn't even understand high school math. Bob, you can't just add the two percentages together. As the trustee, how can you expect to be able to manage a $1.5 million budget when you can't even do simple math?

Infamous Mercman said...

Seems like Bob's version of everything lacks facts but is full of innuendo, gossip, rumor, exaggeration, heresay, opinion, and falsehood.

A full course dinner for all the Bob-O-Bots. The perfect term, Dude!

Hey Bob...who am I? LOL