Skip to content
  1. Home
  2. Local News

Nine employees in the $200,000 club in New West in 2023

Price tag for City of New Westminster staff tops $66 million in 2023.
Theresa McManus
Theresa McManus
nw-city-hall
Nine employees of the City of New Westminster took home more than $200,000 in 2023.Julie MacLellan

The City of New Westminster’s chief administrative officer was its highest-paid civil servant in 2023.

Lisa Spitale, who has worked with the city since 1992 and has been its CAO since June 2013, took the top spot with remuneration of $303,516.

Eight other city employees cracked the $200,000 mark, including members of the senior management team, members of New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services, and electrical department employees. These were the city employees having remuneration of $200,000 or more in 2023:

  • Dean Gibson (director of parks and recreation) – $222,106
  • Gord Denhoed (New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $219,309
  • Lisa Leblanc (director of engineering) – $219,224
  • Rod Carle (who retired as general manager of the New Westminster Utility Commission in 2023) – $213,552.
  • Tim Pennell (an electrical department as a sub-foreperson and powerline technician) – $206,631
  • Richard Fong (director of human resources) – $207,844
  • Erin Williams (chief of New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $206,207
  • Anthony Malcom (New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services) – $201,447

According to the report, the schedule of employee remuneration and expenses is based on actual payments made in the year. This can include payouts of vacation, gratuity and overtime banks.

The recently released statement of financial information (SOFI) includes a report listing employees’ remuneration and expenses for all city workers earning $75,000 or more. All totalled, it listed the remuneration and expenses of the 321 city employees earning more than $75,000, excluding sworn police officer who are not included in the SOFI.

Of the 321 employees included on the list, 196 earned $100,000 or more in 2023.

The City of New Westminster’s SOFI document showed the city paid $66.6 million in remuneration and expenses for all city employees in 2023. That figure includes those earning less than $75,000 but excludes sworn police officers.

In the City of Burnaby, 18 senior managers made more than $200,000 in 2023. Leon Gous, Burnaby’s chief administrative officer, was paid $387,489 in 2023.