Lisa Spitale is once again the lone member of the City of New Westminster’s $200,000 club.
Spitale, the city’s chief administrative officer, earned $220,578 in 2015. A year earlier, fire chief Tim Armstrong joined her in the $200,000 club, after cashing in some banked hours.
Each year, the city releases a report listing all employees earning remuneration and expenses of $75,000 and up. It’s just one of the documents the city is required to release as part of its statement of financial information.
In 2015, 225 city employees (excluding police officers) had remuneration of $75,000 or more, including 142 topping $100,000. The report listed 225 employees, including 31 earning $75,000 to $79,999; 30 making $80,000 to $89,999; 23 taking home $90,000 to $99,999; 127 earning $100,000 to $149,999; and 14 making more than $150,000.
Along with Spitale, these employees earned more than $150,000 last year:
* Rod Carle (general manager of the city’s electrical utility) – $181,880
* Dean Gibson (director of parks and recreation) – $181,202
* Jim Lowrie (director of engineering) – $177,673
* Gary Holowatiuk (director of finance and information technology) – $175,110
* Armstrong (chief of New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $173,264
* Joan Burgess (director of human resources) – $172,654
* Bruce Zelter (New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $171,672
* Beverly Grieve (director of development services) – $171,745
* Pierre Gaudreault (manager of the New Westminster Electrical Utility) – $160,506
* Peter Loss (New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $158,491
* Don Grossman (New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $157,769
* Jim Wishlove (deputy fire chief with New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $154,749
* John Hatch (deputy fire chief with New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $150,070
All totalled, the 225 employees had remuneration of $24.5 million and city expenses of $303,302. On top of that, the city paid $26.2 million in salaries and $106,145 in city business expenses to employees making less than $75,000, excluding police, who aren’t required to be included in the report.