A retirement job that pays $70,000 including benefits? Only for an overpaid cop!
by One overpaid piggy!
Thursday, Apr. 08, 2010 at 7:08 PM
"It was a retirement job anyway," said Farmer, who attended Tuesday's council meeting.
His salary was $45,000 with an additional $25,000 in benefits, he said.
Carefree lays off marshal amid belt-tightening
Carefree has laid off its town marshal in the midst of long-term budget planning.
Pat Farmer was dismissed during a Carefree Town Council meeting this week. The council voted 5-2 in favor of the reduction, with Council members Susan Vanik and Bob Coady voting against it.
"This is the extent of the cuts we probably need to make" in the next two fiscal years
, Carefree Mayor David Schwan said.
The decision was not related to performance, officials said.
Farmer, who was hired in 2006 after a 35-year stint on the Phoenix Police Department, told the Scottsdale Republic he was not bothered by the layoff. The town marshal works with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to oversee law enforcement for Carefree.
"It was a retirement job anyway," said Farmer, who attended Tuesday's council meeting.
His salary was $45,000 with an additional $25,000 in benefits, he said.
Deputy Court Clerk Kevin Stuckey will act as the town marshal. His duties will be spread out among several Carefree employees, a plan that Coady criticized.
"It does not make any sense to have four people doing a piecemeal here and a piecemeal there," he said.
Schwan said the budget
for fiscal 2010-11 is "very tight." The reduction is "a prudent thing to do at this time," he said.
Town Administrator Gary Neiss said the downsizing process began last spring, when former administrator Jonathan Pearson retired and Neiss, the town's planning director, assumed his duties.
Since then, Carefree has laid off two full-time workers and a part-time worker in addition to the town marshal position, or 25 percent of the workforce, he said. The savings is $300,000.
Carefree has an average of 3 1/2 employee positions per 1,000 residents, which is "well below the typical threshold," Neiss said.
"Everyone wears many hats," he said.
Coady said the layoff was sudden and came just weeks after town officials said the budget was in good standing.
"Why is money an issue now?" he said. "All of a sudden, in a two-week period, we have to get rid of someone?"
