|
Gary Achziger is the James Brown of city employees. No, he's not a godfather or a sex machine. He's the hardest-working man in city government--and once again he's the highest paid. Achziger, a 911 dispatcher, earned $123,702 last year. Of that hefty sum, $74,290 was in overtime--more than City Commissioner Jim Francesconi's entire salary last year. At his $25-per-hour wage, Achziger must have been working almost 80 hours a week on average. How'd he do it? Mainly by waking up early. Real early. Achziger's regular schedule is 7 am to 5 pm, but he often comes in four hours early to plug holes in that unpopular shift. He also works on many of his days off. Achziger declined to talk to WW, but his bureau's personnel director did not. Rebecca Gunther assures us that he isn't falling asleep on the job. If he were, he wouldn't be allowed to work all those hours. "He's got a strong constitution," says Gunther. So what's the 20-year veteran of city government doing with all his dough? It's not clear. The only property he owns in Oregon (or Washington, California or Idaho) is a house in Northeast Portland valued at $95,000. "I know he's real devoted to his family," says Gunther, adding that it's the quality of time, not the quantity, that counts in the devotion department. Second behind Achziger in the salary sweepstakes was Police Chief Charles Moose at $104,824, all of it regular salary. Rounding out the top 10 were five fire bureau employees, two police officers who made huge amounts of overtime and Water Bureau boss Mike Rosenberger, who earned $99,999.40. Other notable trivia: Mayor Vera Katz ranked 43rd on the list, with
a fixed salary of $90,451, which was down from her rank of 36th in 1997.
Fire Bureau employees occupied 40 of the top 100 slots, and the police
had 24. Next on the list was the City Attorney's office, which had nine
lawyers in the top 100. Forty-five city employees made more than $90,000
last year (up from 37 in 1997), and 457 employees made more than $70,000. --Bob
Young You might think so based on how the local media treated the release of the 1998 Oregon Public School Drug Use Survey last week. The coverage is typified by The Oregonian's Jan. 27 headline on page D1: "Data give bad news on teen substance abuse." A reading of the survey, which polled eighth-graders and 11th-graders from across the state, showed a far less alarming story. For example: * Marijuana use among eighth- and 11th-graders was down from the previous survey in 1996. * Alcohol use was down among eighth-graders. It was unchanged for 11th-graders. * The Illicit Drug Index, which measures students' use of one or more substances excluding alcohol or tobacco, was also down for eighth-graders and unchanged for 11th-graders. In fact, of all the categories surveyed, only tobacco use among 11th-graders showed a significant increase--a worrisome sign to be sure but hardly the whole story. Barbara Cimaglio, who directs the state Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs, commissioned the survey. Although she was interviewed for The Oregonian's story, Cimaglio was surprised at the tenor of most of the coverage. Charts that accompanied the article graphically displayed the improved results in some categories, but the text focused on the absolute numbers of kids using controlled substances. Although Cimaglio is quick to add that drug and alcohol use is still far too high among students, she notes that in every major category eighth-graders--presumably more receptive to anti-substance abuse messages than 11th-graders--showed improvement over the 1996 survey. "We're interpreting it as good news that we've stemmed the tide," Cimaglio
says. "The media obviously want to make things more dramatic." --Nigel
Jaquiss Dondero and gang presented their study to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., this week. Around the country, they found that a rising tide of soft money (unrestricted contributions funneled through parties) leads to more negative ads, more confusing ads and increased power for national parties. Other findings include: * Wu and Bordonaro benefited from nearly $500,000 each in soft money and special-interest group campaigns. * Wu got the most help from the labor unions, such as the National Education Association, which spent $120,000 on radio ads, mailers and phone calls supporting Wu. Bordonaro got the most assistance from Americans for Limited Terms, which spent $272,000 in an anti-Wu campaign. * Bordonaro did not buy radio time late in the campaign,
expecting outside groups like the National Rifle Association to do so.
The NRA did plan ads against Wu but pulled them because Bordonaro flip-flopped
on gun issues late in the campaign. In the last week of the campaign
Wu put out attack radio ads, but Bordonaro couldn't respond because
she had not bought air time. --Bob Young Why,
There Oughta Be A Law...
This week's amateur legislator, Mat Stickler of Lake Oswego, wins dinner for two at Sweetwater's Jam House. HOUSE
BILL 4003 RELATING TO DIRTY BUTTS In last week's Scoreboard, it was incorrectly reported that Todd Seymour received a seven and a half year sentence. Seymour was actually sentenced to 70 months (but could be released in as soon as 56 months for good behavior). WW regrets the errors.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
