Top cop's pay tops the charts
BOSSES LAG | Night shift nurse, aide to Stroger also lead the way
They may be the bosses, but Mayor Daley, Gov. Blagojevich and Cook County Board President Todd Stroger are not the top wage earners in their respective governments, according to a Chicago Sun-Times survey of public payrolls.
It turns out that a registered nurse working the night shift at a state Department of Human Services facility for the developmentally disabled made $201,000 last year -- $35,000 more than the governor.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
And Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis makes nearly $90,000 a year more than his boss, the mayor, while Stroger's special assistant Laura Lechowicz-Felicione pulls in $2,700 more than her boss.
Stephanie Marshall, the retiring president of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, also out-earned the governor by more than $95,000.
The nurse, Loreatha Coleman, who works at the state-run Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park, earns a base salary of about $64,000. But a 10 percent night differential and lots of overtime more than tripled her pay, a DHS spokeswoman said.
When Weis was hired last November to clean up the Police Department, Daley justified his top salary by saying the former FBI agent would be wearing two hats: those of top cop and chief emergency officer.
"This man could go anyplace within the FBI," Daley said at the time. "He could go outside. I'm very responsible paying him that much money -- both for being [police superintendent] and for homeland security [chief]. . . . Yes, it's worth it."
But in July, Weis' authority to supervise response to disasters was diluted when Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco was named to head the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Daley said Orozco, not Weis, will be calling the shots at disaster scenes.
Marshall, the former president of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, the state high school in Aurora, was already making more than Blagojevich's $166,000. But when she retired last year, her $188,000 salary was boosted by accumulated sick and vacation pay, bringing her total to nearly $242,000.
Also, dozens of doctors working for the state and county made more than their chief executives. (The Sun-Times didn't count them here in order to better compare administrative salaries, but they are included in an online searchable list of 145,000 city, state and county employees at www.suntimes.com.)
And although they are not doctors, a county hospital administrator and the head of the county Public Health Department also do pretty well, making $50,000 and $25,000, respectively, more than their boss, Stroger.
Then there are state university officials, many of whom pull down a lot more than the governor, but the state was unable to provide salary data for higher education employees.
Contributing: Dave McKinney, Mark Konkol
Stephanie Marshall Illinois -- president, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy $241,559
Jon B. Bauman Illinois -- chief operating officer, Teachers' Retirement System $221,405
Johnny C. Brown Cook County -- chief operating officer, Stroger Hospital $220,737
Richard M. Daley Chicago -- mayor $216,210
William R. Atwood Illinois -- director, Board of Investments $206,350
Loreatha A. Coleman Illinois -- registered nurse, Department of Human Services $201,008
Stephen A. Martin Jr Cook County -- chief operating officer, Department of Public Health $195,906
Judith M. Erwin Illinois -- executive director, Board of Higher Education $191,100
Nuria I. Fernandez Chicago -- commissioner of aviation (resigned) $190,764
Stephen W. Robinson Illinois -- medical administrator, Department of Human Services $187,623
Richard A. Devine Cook County -- state's attorney $185,731
Raymond E. Orozco Chicago -- director, Office of Emergency Management & Communications $189,360
John W. Brooks Chicago -- fire commissioner $185,652
Justices (7) Illinois -- Supreme Court $185,404
Joseph M. Fratto Cook County -- chief of staff $181,866
Donna L. Dunnings Cook County -- chief financial officer $175,701
Antonio A. Hylton Cook County -- chief information officer $172,719
Laura Lechowicz Felicione Cook County -- special assistant office of the president $172,719
James B. Jackson Chicago -- first deputy police superintendent $172,452
Lori T. Healey Chicago -- chief of staff $172,056
Jacquelyn L. Heard Chicago -- press secretary $172,056
Terry Mason Chicago -- commissioner of health $171,996
Todd H. Stroger Cook County -- board president $170,000
Thomas J. Glaser Cook County -- deputy treasurer $169,536
Mara S. Georges Chicago -- corporation counsel $168,600
Robert J. Milan Cook County -- assistant state's attorney $168,536
Rod Blagojevich Illinois -- governor $166,000
John R. Morales Cook County -- comptroller $165,000
All records in this database are public and were obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Illinois records effective as of Dec. 2007; Chicago records as of March 2008; Cook County records as of July 2008. Salaries listed are annual.