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Santa Clara water board’s part-time CEO draws high salary

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 8, 2008 at 8:43 am

From the San Jose Mercury News:

Olga Martin Steele was brought in to temporarily lead the Santa Clara Valley Water District in January after its former CEO Stan Williams resigned under a cloud of controversy for excessive spending. But under a contract that the board will consider extending Tuesday, Steele is making more money than Williams - $252,000 a year - while working less time, only 32 hours a week.

She maintains a part-time status so she can continue drawing her $180,000 state pension, which she earned from previous government jobs. If the water board extends Steele’s contract another six months, she’ll receive $432,000 this year.

On Monday, Steele and the chair of the water district board defended the arrangement. “I came here with a lot of experience and hit the ground running,” Steele said. “I’ve made significant changes and have initiated a number of initiatives to streamline and better leverage resources and position the district for the difficult challenges that lay ahead. And I’m doing that for less money than if they had hired a permanent CEO.”

Based in San Jose, the district provides drinking water and flood protection to 1.8 million Santa Clara County residents. Its $364 million annual budget comes from water bills and property taxes.

Board chair Rosemary Kamei said that Steele, 60, came in on short notice and has worked hard to bring stability to the agency. Under her contract, she does not receive paid vacation, a car allowance or health benefits - benefits worth tens of thousands of dollars. Kamei negotiated the deal, though she said Monday she was unaware how much Steele is earning in pension benefits.

“But we are paying her less than we paid Stan because we are not providing her any of the benefits that we provided him. In terms of what she brings to the district, I think she’s doing an excellent job. In a very short time frame she has been able to do a lot of good things.”

Steele said other governments agencies, including the city of San Jose, had temporarily brought back retirees. However, critics said such deals are often bad for taxpayers.

“We would not say that anybody pulling a pension should never be able to work again,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. “But the purpose of a public employee retirement system is to take care of people in their old age. When people are able to retire relatively young, they are able to double dip. The effect on the taxpayers means that there is less money for current services.”

Read the full text of this story from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.

July 8, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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