Sunday • December 15, 2002

He's dead last!

Cemetery manager doesn't mind the low pay

By Barbara Smith/Reporter Staff

There are public servants in Solano County who take a generous slice of the public pie via their annual salaries. But The Reporter's 25th Survey of Top Public Servants' Pay also shows more than a few who only nibble at the public trough.

In fact, there are some managers who earn only half of what those at the top of the chart take home, and even less than the Solano County median income of $60,597.

Consider, for example, Suisun-Fairfield Cemetery Manager Ron Wear, whose base salary of $42,430 places him on the bottom rung in terms of management pay in the county. Wear said his humble salary is based on the humble budget of the cemetery district.

"I think I deserve more money, but I don't think the district can afford it," Wear noted. "I'm just working to put bread on the table. It's better than being without a job."

The district cannot handle higher salaries, and has recently reduced manpower from five to four employees, Wear said. But, it's operating more efficiently due to better equipment - a trade-off of sorts.

"It's a toss-up. You get better, more efficient equipment, so one person can mow more lawn in an eight-hour day," he said.

Uncomfortable about his salary being publicized?

No way, Wear said. After all, it's public information.

"But, if I were making $200,000 a year, I might have some objection. If you're on the low side of the salary scale, you don't mind the information getting out there, but if you're on the high schedule, you're a little bit embarrassed about taking all that money and not doing your job."

Second in line in the under-$50,000 club is Dixon's Silveyville Cemetery District Manager Mike Obelleiro, whose base salary is $46,092.

Obelleiro doesn't like that The Reporter publishes not only his salary, but those of every top-ranking public manager.

"I don't like it at all. I think that if people want to know what they pay the public, they can go ask themselves," Obelleiro said.

He also said reporting disparities in managers' salaries doesn't make sense because the manager of a cemetery district shouldn't be compared to some other positions.

"I think it's misleading," Obelleiro said. "The survey compares all the managers in the county, but we're compared with the recreation district, the water district, and you've got SID on there. That's why I object to the survey. You're not comparing like things. You can't compare apples and oranges."

Obelleiro said he's earning what he should be earning for the manager of a cemetery district. Compared to what managers earn at cemeteries throughout the state, he's somewhere in the middle of the pay scale, he said.

Many factors are at play, and Vacaville is an example, he said.

"If you compare my salary to the manager of the Vaca-Elmira Cemetery, they're doing twice the number of internments that we're doing," he said. "So obviously, they've got a bigger crew and they're doing twice the amount the burials in the year that we do."

Vacaville-Elmira Cemetery Manager Michael "Mick" Harden said he's perfectly happy with his $66,560 base salary. But, he has other income, he said.

Harden is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, with a $56,000 annual retirement income for 30 years of service to the country.

"So I want to work here and I appreciate the money," Harden said. "And, this cemetery does not turn over enough profit for me to justify any larger salary than what I get."

Harden feels that the cemetery is a public agency and that comes first.

"All the public cemeteries are in the public service business," Harden noted. "I basically work for the taxpayers of Vacaville, and this is their cemetery."

He said the board of directors works to ensure that the cemetery works for the public by maintaining enough money to pay the workers, provide excellent benefits, and make sure reinvestment takes place.

Harden said 50 percent of the cemetery funds comes from property taxes from Vacaville residents and the other 50 percent comes from user fees. There's another seven or so acres that are awaiting development. That is probably good for about 10 years of Vacaville's growth, he said.

"So the money that comes in from both sides of the house has to be used for a number of things, and my salary is just one of those. If you look at what we do, and the fact that the board has never taken a cent for their time and effort, I feel that I am well paid and well cared for," Harden said.

Other public employees in the survey earning less than $60,000 in base salary include Travis 60th Air Mobility Wing Chief Master Sgt. Dan Johnson: $48,730; Suisun Fire Protection Chief Terry Blanc: $53,391; and Vacaville Unified School District Transportation Supervisor Peggy Miller: $53,910.

Barbara Smith can be reached at dixon@thereporter.com.