Hmm, there's not waste that can be cut anywhere else in the city? This summer and straight into this fall the city has been repaving streets that don't need it, putting in new sidewalks where they are not needed, and giving money to business owners to spruce up their store fronts. Doesn't the city know that you don't remodel the house if you can't pay the mortgage? I decided to look into some official payroll numbers and some of them are staggering. IMO Barbara Byrd Bennett is the most over paid of them all. Despite her high salary (the highest in the nation for her position), Cleveland City Schools continue to fail.
Barbara Byrd-Bennett
Cleveland Municipal School District
Chief executive officer since 1998.
Enrollment: 73,000 students in 120 schools.
Base salary (fiscal year)
1998 – $155,000
2002 – $198,000
2003 – $270,000
2004 – $278,000
Bonus
$20,000 longevity bonus by January 15, 2003.
$54,000 bonus announced in June 2003, amounting to 20 percent of her base salary. Byrd-Bennett also received a 20 percent bonus last year.
$20,000 longevity bonus if the CEO chooses to extend her current contract, which runs from July 2002 through December 2004.
Other benefits
When she leaves, Byrd-Bennett can claim 75 percent of the value of unused sick/personal leave up to $50,000. She will also be eligible for payment of all unused vacation time, which has a value of about $5,350 a week at her current salary. Over the course of her current contract, the Board has agreed to pay at least $62,000 into tax-sheltered annuities on the CEO’s behalf.
So, in order to keep the mayor's buddy in roses, the rest of the city will suffer. Crime will increase (police response time is already shameful) and fires will burn.
Shame on you Mayor Campbell. Shame on you for not finding other areas to cut. Shame on you for putting 450 workers out of a job during the holidays. Shame on you for getting us in this mess. Let's see you blame this one on Dennis.
Edited to add: To make matters worse I got a notice in the mail today that a 49 year old sexual preditor moved in down the street very near my 5 year old granddaughter. He served 7 years for raping a 9 year old girl and a 7 year old boy. And get this, we live two blocks from an elementary school! 7 years? Not nearly long enough. Try life.
posted on November 23, 2003 07:51:36 AM new
I wonder how much revenue was lost when that proposed land sale was voted down and now the stores won't be built?
I think at the time you were happy about that vote, I told you it would come back to bite you...
Clevelandites made their bed now lie in it and enjoy...
It is funny that no one looks a these things until after these other cuts come into play... but then again if you had a substandard education administrator, people would complain about that too.
posted on November 23, 2003 04:00:22 PM new
twelvepole
That land sale had NOTHING to do with Cleveland. Lakewood is its own city.
Edited to add: Also, that land sale would not have brought revenue to Lakewood. Westgate mall which is located very close to Lakewood is scheduled to be demolished because it's dying. West End is not located near any freeway or main street that is highly traveled. It would have been tucked away and would have catered only to those who are very well off. Lakewood is one step up from inner city Cleveland. They (the residents) have no money there, either. Who's going to travel through a city to get to an outdoor mall when a major mall is located right off the freeway?
You tell em CBlev65252 
