Sent: Sat, Apr 8, 2023 3:50 pm
Subject: Sales tax issue: Carlsbad Upper Management Salaries - 2017 vs. 2021
I have sent this list out to some people, and figured you might be interested. See attachments for lists of salaries of Carlsbad Management and highly compensated employees, comparing the list from 2017 to that from 2021. I included all salaries of employees whose base pay was $100K or higher. I did not include any police staff, fire staff, or city attorneys. First, let's talk about David Graham, the city's "Chief Innovation Officer". David Graham was hired as Carlsbad's "Chief Innovation Officer" in November 2018. Scott Chadwick hired him. The huge City of San Diego did not even have a "Chief Innovation Officer" at that time. Only a few cities in the state had them, and almost none that were the size of Carlsbad. When the job was advertised in August 2018, the listed salary range was from $127,500 to $185,000. David Graham was hired and started in November 2018. His salary in 2019 was $190,314. Above the hiring salary range. Previously, David Graham was the assistant Chief Operating Officer for the City of San Diego, working directly under Scott Chadwick. So Scott brought his crony over to Carlsbad and paid him more than the salary range, for a job our city does not even need! I don't really have much of an idea of what David Graham does - but at a Traffic Commission meeting a couple years ago, he did a touchy-feely session with them, which was a huge waste of time. Many of the citizens on that commission are highly educated engineers and others who work in industry, and it seemed to be a condescending exercise, besides being a waste of time. At other meetings, he has been seen texting and even playing games on his phone. If he was supposed to revamp the City's website and improve its interface with citizens, he has failed immeasurably. The city's website appears to be more difficult to navigate now than it was a few years ago (maybe that is intentional?). They brag about their app. Oceanside had an appt first, and their app is better. And Oceanside doesn't even have a Chief Innovation Officer - imagine that! The City of San Diego just hired a Chief Innovation Officer in 2020. She makes less than Carlsbad's, for a city of millions! Her 2021 salary was $171,224. She proudly lists her BS in Regional Development from the University of Arizona, and her Masters in Urban Planning from USC. Conversely, on David Graham's LinkedIn, he completely omits the section about education. He is on staff at UCSD and some program at Harvard. Those programs appear to be extension programs which seem to hire the uneducated (case in point, Nathan Fletcher is an instructor at UCSD who supposedly has a bachelor's degree, but it has recently come to light that he never actually presented his supposed credentials to UCSD since Irwin Jacobs was pressuring them to hire him, so they let it slide). Honestly, Mr. Graham seems to be a goofy guy who can "baffle 'em with bullsh*t" and seems to have bamboozled the City of Carlsbad. David Graham is now the 5th highest paid staff member (as I mentioned, not including police, fire, or city atty), with regular pay of $199,814 and total benefits/pension package (that is, OUR liabilities) totaling $279,539. We now have an Assistant City Manager and 3 Deputy City Managers, These are #2, #3, #4, and #6 on the list of highest paid non-first responder salaries. Combined salaries of these "assistants" is $873,463. In 2017, we had a "Chief Operations Officer". We also had a Public Works Director. Maybe these "Assistant" and "Deputy" City Managers" took over those positions' duties? I don't see any "Chief Operations Officer" or Public Works Director in recent years. Still, even accounting for that, in 2017, we had a Chief Operations Officer, an Assistant City Manager, a Public Works Director and an "Assistant to City Manager". Combined salaries were $668,581. Some people seemed to get huge promotions and salary increases. Donald Neu, city planner - salary went from 141,532 to 156,833 in 4 years - just in time for him to retire! Jason Haber, as "Assistant to City Manager" in 2017, made $106,118. In 2021, he now has the fancy title of "Intergovernmental Affairs Director" and the much fancier salary of $155,194. And let's talk about cronyism. David Graham, the overcompensated and unneeded "Chief Innovation Officer", was previously the assistant Chief Operations Officer in the City of San Diego. He worked directly under Scott Chadwick. Paz Gomez, a current Deputy City Manager, was Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the City of San Diego, during the time Scott Chadwick was there. He hired her over to Carlsbad almost immediately after he arrived, first as Public Works Director for a scant 8 months, and then promoting her to the newly created job of "Deputy City Manager, Public Works" with a large salary boost. The list of high $$ jobs went from 3 pages long, to 5 pages long. Inflation and COLA doesn't account for this in only 4 years (and inflation hadn't really hit in 2021). Population did not increase much during that time either. City Hall bureaucrats are apparently already aware of this list being circulated and are trying to make excuses for it. Some of the jobs were absorbed into others, but in the process there were huge salary boosts. And all of the consolidation aside, the list of highly compensated employees is much longer now than it was 4 short years ago. Salaries are all obtained from the website TransparentCalifornia.com which has been a very reliable source over the past few years, and is cited often.
Additional remarks by website management: Most land in San Diego County is NOT within ANY city limits. The County provides them with all necessary services at significantly lower expense than within cities that have been incorporated. "Carlsbad" should only be a postal address, similar to Rancho Santa Fe. Watch for future postings about very bad government in Carlsbad, and also other cities.
And remember: anything that has become "incorporated" can also become UNincorporated, as did the Enron Corporation.
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