Way to Grow the Government

In this time of recession, many workers are facing either taking a cut in pay, or a cut in benefits or even losing their job altogether. There is one stark contrast to the losses that every wage earning Ohioan faces, that is the gains in government.

As income for hard working Ohioans shrinks, jobs disappear and homes are foreclosed, the government is increasing pay and hiring more staff.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray boosts staff and payroll
Posted by Reginald Fields/Plain Dealer Bureau Chief May 10, 2009 21:00PM
Categories: Open, Real Time News

COLUMBUS -- During his first three months in office, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray increased the size of the staff and raised the agency's payroll by nearly 5 percent, while the state's revenue dropped sharply and the governor pleaded for spending restraints.

The increases can partly be attributed to the fact that Cordray, who had been state treasurer, hired 42 people from that office to join him at the attorney general's office and gave all but two of them pay raises.

Between Jan. 3, the weekend before he took office, and April 11, the Democrat hired 131 people, while 79 employees quit or were fired during that period.

The office payroll per two-week pay period increased from $4.4 million in early January to $4.7 million -- a 4.6 percent jump in three months.

Cordray says the numbers don't tell the whole story, and that he has taken steps to eliminate positions, lower salaries and reduce overtime to address the state's financial difficulties.

Ohio's finances have been circling the drain. The state is struggling with plummeting tax revenues that have blown a hole in the current budget and have left lawmakers with another gap to fill as they plan for the next two-year budget.

Gov. Ted Strickland in April again urged state agencies and executive offices to comply with his written order from January 2008 to limit, not increase, payroll expenses.

But Cordray made dozens of hires, largely out of necessity after taking over an office riddled with vacancies following a sexual harassment scandal that led to the resignation of former Attorney General Marc Dann last May.

As a separate office not directly under the governor's administration, Cordray is not bound by Strickland's call for spending restraints. But the attorney general said he is sensitive to the state's budget troubles.

"We have eliminated a number of vacancies," Cordray said. "We've had to absorb budget cuts, so we are not going to fill some of those."

The attorney general said he took office with 177 vacancies and has since permanently eliminated 43 positions. He also lowered the top end pay for the office from $149,000 to $125,000 a year. And he said he is lowering overtime costs.

"Do we have more employees than we did in January? Yes," Cordray said. "But is that a fair comparison? I don't think so."

After The Plain Dealer inquired, Cordray said his office is now calculating payroll differently, too, eliminating certain "fees and processing costs." That brought the payroll figure to just below $4.4 million at the end of April, but it will fluctuate, he said.

A similar cost adjustment intended to lower the payroll figure was not made, however, for the January payroll numbers released by his office, making a direct comparison difficult.

Cordray, who was elected in November to finish Dann's vacated term, has also been generous with the pay he offered his newly acquired staffers, especially those most loyal to him.

For example, his top media representative, Holly Hollingsworth, earns $98,000 a year. The highest earner in that position under Dann and his appointed successor, Attorney General Nancy Rogers, earned $75,000.

Cordray, who is up for re-election next year, noted that he has three people working directly with the media while Dann had four. He also said the communications job at the attorney general's office is tougher than at the treasurer's office.

And the person directing communications for Cordray, Leesa Brown, who also handled communications for his campaign last year, earns $115,000 annually. The equivalent position under Dann paid $102,000, and Rogers' acting director made $75,000.

Cordray explained that Brown, whose title is executive director of policy and public affairs, has more duties and supervises more people than her predecessors.

The job still oversees external communications, constituent services and media relations but now also includes more outreach services and policy research.

In addition to Hollingsworth, Brown manages employees with titles like senior new media designer and senior new media strategist. Some of the titles did not exist prior to Cordray; others did but were shifted from other sections in the office.

Cordray brought along 42 employees from the treasurer's office -- including Hollingsworth and Brown -- and gave all but two raises. Twenty-three of them got a hike of 5 percent or better, including a dozen who got at least a 10 percent pay bump.

"If they had broader duties here than in the treasury, then I took that into account. I think there were minor salary adjustments for a lot of people," said Cordray, who doesn't believe money was the determining factor for most of those employees.

"I don't think I had to lure people over to the attorney general's office," Cordray said. "People who wanted to work for me came to work for me."