- Kathryn McGrath, ICMA-RC’s secretary and general counsel, made $1.4 million.
- Wayne Wicker, senior vice president and chief investment officer cleared nearly $1.3 million.
- Another six employees made more than $500,000. In all, 231 of its 689 employees each earned $100,000 or more in 2009.
The International City/County Management Association was created in 1972 and provides retirement services for local governments and administers.
David Mora, chairman of the ICMA-RC’s board and retired city manager of Salinas, California said, “This is the financial-services industry, and the expertise required there is very different from that of managing services for residents of a community.”
According to Delaware Online, Mora is also the West Coast regional director of the ICMA-RC, and was one of the first city-government experts to react to the Bell situation.
When the story of Bell broke, Mora asked the question, “Is a City Manager Worth $800,000?,” in the Los Angeles Times. Maybe the answer to this question does not correlate to the ICMA-RC.
When asked why public officials should not be outraged by the pay at ICMA Retirement Corp, Mora claimed the employees of the company were in “a very different business,” and that he was confident the board had approved “competitive compensation packages” that were “not at the extreme” and “not at the low end.”
The pay of the organization’s top officers was reviewed every year to make sure it was fair and reasonable.
The ICMA- RC’s IRS Form 990 showed the head of the corporation had compensation of $6.8 million in 2007 and $4.4 million in 2008.
Delaware Online stated that taxpayers are angry about and envious of public employees’ pensions. Stories like these add to the frustrations citizens have surrounding their local and state governments.
How much is enough these days?
Louis Dettorre can be reached at ldettorre@publicceo.com