By now we are sure it’s obvious to you. The Martin Chronicles is concerned about the collective thought process of the Villa Hills Ethics Board. Want another example? Let’s consider their opinion of the $47.50 per hour rate the taxpayers are providing Mayor Martin’s friend Cordelia Schaber. Responding to an inquiry from a councilman, the board opined that the cost to the taxpayer’s for Schaber’s efforts is “in line” for the type of work she is doing.
Let’s dig into that a little bit.
In Martin’s own words, Schaber is “a clerk”. If we are to take Martin at his word-and we are finding that to be a perilous thing to do-Schaber is being paid roughly two times per hour what the Villa Hills’ interim city clerk is earning. And, the interim city clerk has been a city employee for several years. According to indeed.com, the average deputy city clerk in Northern Kentucky earns $16.82 per hour. Using those numbers, Schaber is earning $30.68 more per hour than the average rate.
Let’s take it a little further.
We are told that Schaber is doing accounting work for the city. We’ll go with that despite the irrefutable fact that no accurate financial reporting has been presented to city council since Schaber was hired in February of this year. According to accountingedu.org, the average hourly wage for accountants and Certified Public Accountants in the Northern Kentucky area is $30.74 per hour. The taxpayers are giving Schaber $16.76 more than that per hour.
It may seem like we’re piling on. But the fact that Mayor Martin refuses to enforce the contract that he and Schaber both signed requiring her to have Errors and Omissions insurance-to protect the taxpayers-makes this whole arrangement even more disturbing.
It gets better. According to someone in attendance at a city Administration Committee meeting, it was suggested Schaber apply for the open-for-several-months city clerk position. The thought was her accounting “skills” would be helpful in that role. Mayor Martin’s reply? He chuckled and said, “She’d never do that. She’d have to take a pay cut!” Roll-on-the-floor-hilarious, huh?
You want to know the funny part? It only took The Martin Chronicles about ten minutes to gather this information. How much time did the Ethics Board spend researching before they concluded that Schaber’s pay was “in line”?
