Four governor's office employees earning $148k or more; Scott taking one penny per year

Gov. Rick Scott's office today released salary information for the hires in his office. Scott, a Naples millionaire, is earning $0.01 after a promise on the campaign trail not to take a salary.

Four employees are earning at least $148,000 per year: Mary Ann Carter, chief policy adviser; Mike Prendergast, chief of staff; Jerry McDaniel, budget chief and Spence Geissinger. None of former Gov. Charlie Crist's executive office employees earned that much.

Here is Scott's office so far:

GOVERNOR $0.01, RICK SCOTT
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, $124,851    JENNIFER CARROLL
PERSONAL AIDE    $50,000    DEAN PETRONE
CHIEF OF STAFF-EOG    $150,000    MIKE PRENDERGAST
CHIEF POLICY ADVISOR    $150,000    MARY ANN CARTER
DIRECTOR OF EXECUTIVE STAFF    $95,000    DIANE MOULTON
DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND BUDGETING-EOG    $150,000    JERRY MCDANIEL
SPECIAL COUNSEL/LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS    $140,000    HAYDEN DEMPSEY
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR    $110,000    BRIAN BURGESS
DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF    $100,000    JENN PETER UNGRU
DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF    $100,000    CARRIE O'ROURKE
GENERAL COUNSEL    $130,000    ERIK FIGLIO
LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DIRECTOR    $110,000    JON COSTELLO
DIRECTOR OF OPEN GOVERNMENT    $90,000    CAROLYN TIMMANN
DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS    $148,000    SPENCER GEISSINGER
EXECUTIVE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF      $80,000    FRITZ BROGAN
 

Comments

[Close Observer]

We can only hope that Mr. Scott can stop some of the kingdom building foolishness in tallahassee. We pay for the Taj Mahal Courthouse excesses and 'agency ifrastructures" that are truly PR and (mis)management devices to promote the department or agency head, while we cut the real workers in pay, all to keep the "leaders" safe and comfortable. How many DOT managers actually ever designed, built or maintained a road? How many of the social services agency leaders or accountants actually held a hand or truly helped the ones the purport to serve? The waste in government is there, but only a close review will reveal what is going on. We can actually sell or give away the assets like planes, the real money is in the bureaucracy that each agency head wants for themselves instead of finding better ways to do business.
Stop the cutting of the guards, the nurses, and the janitors, how about using the consolidation of the agencies to reduce the separate computer systems, the multiple accounting systems, the goofy rules that make buying a single pencil require hours of work, and make people accountable for only the real mission? That seemed to beneifit the HCA bottom line, and could help the state.