SedonaEye.com columnist Eddie S. Maddock on Sedona city employees salary and additional compensation packages budgeted for 2024.
Sedona AZ – WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2024?
Boldly and sincerely stated in a video at the opening of City Council meetings is Sedona’s Vision:
“To be a city that is constantly vigilant over the preservation of its natural beauty, scenic vistas, pristine environment and cultural heritage. To be a city that retains its small-town character and creates its manmade improvements in strict harmony with nature. To be a city that is animated by the arts, and lives with a spirit of volunteerism to help achieve our common goals. To be a city that offers equal opportunities for all and fosters a sense of community. To be a city that welcomes and accommodates all of its visitors and future residents with a spirit of fellowship. To be a city that retains and enhances a strong and vital economy which preserves existing lifestyles without exploiting the natural beauty. To be a city that lives up to the challenge of proper stewardship of one of the earth’s great treasures.”
Before proceeding with what may or may not be a surprise to Sedona residents via a Freedom of Information Act, “Douglas Ducey in 2021 was employed in Arizona Governor’s Office and had annual salary of $95,000 according to public records. This salary is 20% higher than average and 36% higher than median salary in Arizona Governor’s Office.” (Phoenix has a population of 1.6 million and pays its City Manager $314,999 annually.)
With the city of Sedona gearing up to prepare its fiscal year 2024 budget, a review of the 2023 budget shows that average budgeted compensation for a city employee is presently $106,174. (Population of Sedona is 9,684 – a decrease from previous years.)
Here is what we pay Sedona city employees:
City Manager Karen Osburn: $183,000. (No change from 2022.)
Deputy City Manager Joanne Keene: $161,850. (A 7.9% increase from 2022.)
City Attorney Kurt Christianson: $155,235. (A 7% increase from 2022.)
Assistant City Manager/Director of Public Works J. Andy Dickey: $155,147. (A 7% increase from 2022.)
Director of Financial Services Cherie White: $153,422. (An 8.4% increase from 2022.)
Chief of Police Stephanie Foley: $135,200. (Foley replaced Charles Husted, who retired last fall; the chief position’s salary is an overall 2% decrease from 2022.)
Magistrate Judge Paul Schlegel: $125,008. (No change from 2022.)
Director of Community Development Steve Mertes: $125,000. (No change from 2022.)
Criminal Prosecutor William Kunisch: $120,443. (An 8% increase from 2022.)
Director of Wastewater Roxanne Holland: $119,061. (A 9.6% increase from 2022.)
Information Technology Manager Chuck Hardy: $117,830. (A 6.8% increase from 2022.)
Assistant Director of Public Works Sandra Phillips: $114,660. (A 4% increase from 2022.)
Human Resources Manager Brenda Tammarine: $114,354. (A 7.6% increase from 2022.)
Transit Administrator Robert Weber: $110,850. (A 10.9% increase from 2022.)
Engineering Supervisor Kurtis Harris: $103,000. (Position vacant in 2022.)
Police Lts. Karl Waak and Scott Martin: $103,000. (A 13.2% increase from 2022. Martin is a new hire, replacing the retiring Sgt. Michael Dominguez.)
Network Engineer, unspecified staff: $102,615. (A 5.6% increase from 2022.)
System Administrator, unspecified staff: $102,614. (A 5.6% increase from 2022.)
GIS Analyst, unspecified staff: $102,014. (A 5% increase from 2022.)
Additional benefits over and above wages include, but are not limited to health, dental, and vision insurance coverage plus countless hours of paid time-off; as offered in ads seeking even more City of Sedona employees.
And this, dear readers, is active even during the uncertainty of a predicted economic recession next year.
Impressive?
Suggestion: Reread the “Vision Statement” and then decide.
@laura/dan Bullseye
Safe to say you’re fairly stupid because you belong to a party begun by racists, furthered by racists, who currently are proud and loud racists. Nope, not fairly stupid, you’re the full Monty.
Not a single Republican has tried to overthrow the government. You really have to turn off MSNBC because no true Democrat watches that news source.
@elizabethn what fun & believe bearded men cover up because they’re insecure
never vote candidates wearing beards, can’t shave, can’t govern, same riding motorcycles, wear a helmet, pay higher insurance bc both make people look stupid
In a paragraph —- (Before proceeding with what may or may not be a surprise to Sedona residents via a Freedom of Information Act, “Douglas Ducey in 2021 was employed in Arizona Governor’s Office and had annual salary of $95,000 according to public records. This salary is 20% higher than average and 36% higher than median salary in Arizona Governor’s Office.” (Phoenix has a population lof 1.6 million and pays its City Manager $314,999 annually.)
For every Sedona tax season churn churn churn. . .
Ask your financial advisor how the latest government jobs report is scary. Hope you have a smart one giving you answers.
The report shows government jobs were the most jobs filled, not private, or manufacturing or other sectors. Damn scary for the future, but your financial advisor should know and if not, find someone who is.
Bidenomics is the San Francisco of present and future financials. Biden administration doesn’t revenue know it or they’d put duct tape on the term.
Sedona better make sure it’s got better financial advisors than DC.
My financial adviser hasnt said any of that! We did moving lots lots of stock 9 months ago to bonds….And why was that?….Because the worry of inflation and the fed raising the rates. So the rates went way up as the stock markets instability!
Was also told with so many people still working from home that the only crisis is we have a giant surplus of commercial real estate that keeps growing!
When the economy is booming, so does inflation….So who ever is your financial adviser I would run away from, because they are a complete hack!
Ive made 25% or more on all investments the last 2 1/2 years!
@eddiemaddock nice post
Sedona is a great place!
Bwhaaaaaaaaaaa @no Eve you’re no way 25% even Berkshire Hathaway didn’t make that beaaaahhhaaaaaaa laugh at you
You’re “investments” like your fantasy football team bragging?
Maybe
Your a regular keyboard warrior I guess? Why would you even point out a stock mutual funds as an example?
Here is just from 2021…………
10 of the S&P 500’s best performing stocks of 2021:
Ford Motor Co. (F): +132%
Bath & Body Works Inc. (BBWI): +131%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO): +130%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG): +118%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA): +117%
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT): +117%
Nucor Corp. (NUE): +114%
Gartner Inc. (IT): +104%
https://money.usnews.com/investing/slideshows/best-performing-stocks
here is 2022……..
Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY 119.1%
Hess Corp. HES 94.1%
Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM 87.4%
Marathon Petroleum Corp. MPC 86.6%
Schlumberger NV SLB 81.2%
APA Corp. APA 76.5%
Valero Energy Corp. VLO 75%
Constellation Energy Corp. CEG 74.8%
Haliburton Corp. HAL 74.5%
ConocoPhillips CPO 71.5%
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/14/best-performing-stocks-of-2022.html
Now go troll someone else, learn to diversify and get a real person who isnt a hack to invest your money………..So go suck it!
Nice post….you sound like a real moron.. I suspect I’m right
Kennedy Jr is right that we’ve got a socialism problem in this country, and it’s up to us to fix it.
Sedona extraordinary cost of living sure took a chunk out of your pot and oil independence screwed everybody but our enemies.
Morons United voting today to murder our own kids (abortion) because the Gates Foundation and Soros (he hates every human except George) and yes that despicable worthless UN wants to kill more than the Chinese did – you know that country which unleashed global terror that wanted to kill just for the political of it. Break out the GMOs and go eat that fake chicken and plant based food by Bill Gates. Next up fried fetus and old folks and the same morons on next councils .
@skyking the plane’s waiting
IRS agents comin for you after they’re done destroying Trumpers but this time they’ll carry guns
Kids get free education and can’t read or write, kids burn flags and don’t know what the stars or stripes or colors represent, like War and Treaty sing “that’s not how love is made.”
They finally CENSURED radical Rashida Tlaib for her vile antisemitism. Can we censure Sedona chamber? Please please please!
@bozo
@damn lucky
Just at lee on spewing your nonsense which make no sense.. Get some help angry one..
SAY THANK YOU TO OUR VETERANS TOMORROW ON VETERANS DAY.
America owes them a debt of everlasting gratitude. Shake a hand and offer a free meal or pick up a tab or give a free service.
@damnlucky life is good
https://sedonaeye.com/eddie-maddock-sedona-whats-in-store-for-2024/comment-page-10/#comment-409104
Thank you for your service and your sacrifice to keep this greatest nation on earth free from tyranny. We appreciate and love you all. Semper Fi and God Bless USA. Wave your flags today. Never be humbled by cowards.
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
G.K. CHESTERTON
Love this country andproud of it.
shout out to our active military and retired vets specially cousin Kayseri and Manny
https://youtube.com/shorts/4uwBXr8-Bpo?si=yzbm_hx9GyyQ3Sh
A great American or do you prefer his polar opposite Hunter?
Good Veterans Day
Hello Sedona Sunday church people. Isn’t it sickening to discover a pro Palestine anti Israel city here? Time to visit elsewhere, spend tourist dollars elsewhere, buy property and open businesses elsewhere because torture, burning and gassing innocent Israeli and global citizens including Arabs is approved and complicit by remaining silent. “From the river to the sea” means wiping everyone in Israel off the planet when said and repeating the words and wearing black and white Gaza Hamas colors, signals your hate filled ignorance. Just sayin.
loved that show whatsup w Penny
“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.”
RONALD REAGAN
It’s too bad you are such a partisan @@noeve, when nonpartisanship is what American democracy is about. Your parents and your children must be embarrassed by your lack of depth.
no place to hide
My deceased wife was Jewish and I’m sure she’s rolling over in her grave. Never in my life have I seen such vile antisemitism in such a short time. This is the result of TikTok videos that has MKultra’d the populace by pushing certain algorithms = the Chyna CCP agenda is working to divide all of America.
America never was a racist country until Obama, who is now the puppet master behind Biden. Never before in SEDONA have I witness outright racism until just a few days ago when a woman wearing a Star of David necklace was run over with a shopping cart in the grocery store parking lot by a younger woman sporting a Palestinian pride flag colored T-shirt.
I was in Afghanistan as a soldier years ago and witnessed what Sunni and Shiite Muslims did to each other. I witnessed what Muslims did to women who bared their hair in public. I witnessed what they did to gays = threw them off tall buildings and then stoned them to death. Those issues in the Gaza strip have been going on for centuries, and Biden finances both sides because he wants a war more than he wants a 2024 POTUS election.
Now, we’ve left behind a cache of weapons in Afghanistan that are being found in all over the middle east, our military is being attacked by Iran, and this is all Israel’s fault? No. It is not.
Our economy is failing = banks are closing and Wall Street bankers have guns and ammo in their desk drawers. Every government agency in the US has been stock piling weapons for the past 15 years. Biden is selling America to China for his own benefit, meanwhile Democrats are interfering with Trumps campaign because he’s beating Biden so badly. Biden should be impeached, but many Republicans don’t want that because there’s NO WAY that Biden can beat Trump in November. Biden’s approval rating hovers around 10%.
Meanwhile, in Sedona prices are going up just like the rest of the country, and tourism is down. Airbnb used to be hated in the city until the city got over 30% of total bed tax revenue from short term rentals. What’s going to happen when the real estate bubble bursts? Well, at least some residents will once again be able to afford a home, if Blackrock doesn’t get there first. Commercial real estate is already in the toilet and retail stores aren’t far behind.
But we continue our merry “sustainable” way, except “Sustainable Sedona” isn’t sustainable at all. Can’t wait until those electric city vehicles catch fire or need a new $35,000 battery. Then what? Then we laugh and laugh and foot the bill for new gas powered city vehicles.
Our border is still wide open and terrorists with IEDs have been captured – but how many gotta-aways out there? A friend of mine has a son who is a Border Patrol agent – he recently told me “If you knew who was in the Verde Valley, you wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.” It’s not a matter of if but when.
Now we are being shown photos in the news of illegal immigrants marching thru swamps in the Darien Gap. This is an area full of mosquitos carrying Dengue Fever. Will these illegals be vetted as healthy when they cross into the United States? Will they be vaccinated? Will this be the next pandemic we’re being warned about?
We’re all in this together, so hopefully we’ll be able to figure this out and help one another. But reading these comments, I’m not holding my breath.
-Archie
@BDB – Next time an extreme leftists chants “From the river to the sea…” ask them: What river? What sea? About 99% won’t have a clue = they have no idea that the whole Gaza war is about a new canal and total lockdown on religious freedom. Most can’t even find Arizona on a map.
Wow buddy……..where have you been? Was “Jews will not replace us”, “and good people on both sides?”…………Talk about ridicules and pick and choose your outrage…………..but I expect it from one sided bigots!…..They are all at fault…is that hard to say? Pathetic but I expect it here…Hope your in store at 2024 and more buddy………….lol
hey archie follow this – BIDEN turned off the pipeline, Obama Biden created green accounts and government crypto and nonprofits created to layer lawyers and politicians to obfuscate and confuse and manipulate outcomes. Obama be in charge and large.
The hits just keep coming.
Former President Donald J. Trump drew scorn from both sides of the political aisle on Thursday for remarks that he made one day earlier criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and referring to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, as “very smart.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/us/politics/trump-hezbollah-israel-palestine.html
Thats your boy bigot. Enjoy HIS OWN WORDS!
YOUS NOT THEYS.
YOUS is 51st state.
YOUS is Hillary staying out of prison.
YOUS is Biden Harris getting into office.
YOUS will try to destroy Supreme Court.
YOUS will enable the military industrial complex.
YOUS will destroy middle class and return them to slaves.
YOUS will become rich however YOU won’t be one because YOU displeased YOUS. Sucks, right?
Phenom Elon
Said —— But we continue our merry “sustainable” way, except “Sustainable Sedona” isn’t sustainable at all. Can’t wait until those electric city vehicles catch fire or need a new $35,000 battery. Then what? Then we laugh and laugh and foot the bill for new gas powered city vehicles. ——
You nailed it. Every paragraph while that Sedona troll talks s*** about Trump because his President is s***.
Sedona Eye Democrat trolls paid to post nonsense and lies to further promote the D party and trills don’t care what scripts say just whether they get reposts or likes. Come to any university and find trolls by the dozens making money that way in Coffee and WiFi areas. Look around #walkaway
NYTimes discredited and isn’t trusted in NY or Seattle or DC. Case closed and Trump won. America saved again.
MAKE IT PUBLIC!
Trump is calling for his trial to be televised to ensure transparency in the court.
Sign if you support online (broken link)
We can now call out the republicans for not funding border security. I guess they just want to make it a talking point so you can blame somebody else. Well guess what the blame is now shifted to Republicans. But I’m sure those who can’t see reality here will still blame Biden . The Republican party is turned into a do nothing joke .like most of the comments here in Sedona Eye. I’ll leave the space below for your BS comments.
Scary when your person says you wouldn’t sleep if you knew who was illegally surrounding us here, and I tell you that person is right and your government is enabling terrorists.
Yawn…keep drinking the kool aid sheepie. Lol
An Ethics Complaint Against Corrupt Judge Arthur Engoron Has Been Filed –
I, the undersigned, hereby join the call for the removal of Judge Arthur Engoron from continuing to preside and/or rendering a judicial decision in New York v. Trump, et al.
Judge Arthur Engoron has shown clear judicial bias and judicial intemperance against the defendant in the case, President Donald J. Trump.
Judge Engoron has repeatedly deprived the defendant, President Donald J. Trump, of his constitutional rights, even going as far as issuing an illegal gag order against President Trump’s legal team.
Additionally, Judge Engoron has repeatedly violated the New York Code of Judicial Conduct, which only further proves his political bias and judicial intemperance.
Therefore, in light of the egregious and myriad violations and deprivations of the defendant’s rights, I hereby request Judge Engoron and his staff to be removed entirely from presiding over and/or rendering a decision in New York v. Trump, et al.
Respectfully,
Elise Stefanik
New York