State government salaries now online

Salaries of state government managers and directors have always been public record - but there's never been an easy way to surf, search, and sort the records.

Thanks to the Salem Statesman-Journal, the records of over 1000 current and recently-former state staffers are now available:

The information was provided by the state Department of Administrative Services for most agencies, and by the Legislative Administration Office, the Judicial Department and the Oregon Lottery. The lists exclude elected officials and some sectors, particularly universities. The Judicial Department list is current as of March 1; the others are as of Dec. 31. ...

The highest-paid official on any of the lists was not an agency director. He is Dr. Marvin Fickle, superintendent and chief medical officer of Oregon State Hospital, at $167,529 annually. ... Dr. Bruce Goldberg, who as director of the Department of Human Services heads the largest state agency, is paid the top agency salary of $126,228. It’s the same salary paid to Patrick Egan, the governor’s chief of staff, and Dale Penn, director of the Oregon Lottery.

The data is searchable by keyword (including job title and name), agency/department, and salary range. Do your own search here.

  • Steve Bucknum (unverified)
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    You know - in terms of the duties and responsibilities of these positions, the numbers of people supervised, having to put up with the antics of the Legislature, etc. -- These wages suck.

    The private sector, matched responsiblity for responibility, matched for required education - has to pay a whole lot more.

    Looks to me like we are underpaying these folks that we depend upon for so much.

  • JHL (unverified)
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    That's why they deserve a solid, generous PERS retirement. It's not just for years of hard work... it's for years of underpaid work.

  • LT (unverified)
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    Many of these people are hardworking as stated above.

    But where is the data on what Minnis paid her staffers during session?--I seem to recall it was higher than many thought it should be.

    And I think it is time to explain to those who bash unions that agency heads don't belong to unions.

    AND to explain to the folks who work lower paid jobs and who might be registered Indep. what exactly D and R caucus administrators do to earn their salaries. Those job descriptions might be interesting reading.

  • Wesley Charles (unverified)
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    But where is the data on what Minnis paid her staffers during session?--I seem to recall it was higher than many thought it should be.

    Not sure how much Mrs. Minnis' staff made, since I believe each legislator is alotted a fixed amount for their office operations. And if the Kelley Wirth case taught us anything (paying Mom to "work" from home), there is virtually no oversight on those expenditures.

    But the data base did reveal that Mr. Minnis made $92,436 as head of the Department of Public Safety Standards & Training. Not bad, considering he retired from the Portland Police Bureau, whose members are not in PERS, much to the surprise of many outside PDX.

    Conspicuously absent from the Secretary of State's data base are Blue Oregon's Jesse Cornett and Anne Martens. Perhaps these two members of Bill Bradbury's Executive Staff would reveal their public-record salaries?

    • Wes
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    The Governor and legislature froze the already low salaries of state workers, cut the departments to leaner than lean and mean, and still Saxton whines and says he'll gut more if he's elected. There is a huge and continual brain drain because the salaries at the management/director levels are so low compared to similar jobs in the private sector. Some of those people manage scads of people, have no Admin staff and are responsible for millions of dollars. They leave. Schools are underfunded and so is state government. The dumbest thing we do in Oregon is refusing to have a sales tax. Stupid!

  • DifferentSalemStaffer (unverified)
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    Whatever Minnis paid her staffers, they earned it. Last session, we all watched that office pretty much run roughshod over various other branches of government... Whether you agree or disagree with her politics, that ain't easy work.

    I'd like to know why it costs so many staff dollars to whisper in the Governor's ear: "Sir, it's July... maybe we should come up with an education plan."

  • Larry (unverified)
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    This data is only for salaries, not overall compensation. If you want to see the total package of what these folks make per year, then you would multiple their salaries by 1.3 to 1.4. Therefore, some of these high wage earners are over $150K or even $175K+. PERS and the healthcare packages that these people get are huge....the highest in the nation.

    Comparing the overall compensation to private sector workers would not show them to be underpaid. But comparing their achievements to most private sector workers would be an interesting comparison. Maybe the cheif of ODOT is a better manager than the heads of Columbia Sportsware or other local companies, but I highly doubt it.

  • engineer (unverified)
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    Larry, which "huge" healthcare package are you referring to? Last I checked state employees had paid health insurance, however, like most health insurance there is a co-pay and deductibles for doctors visits and prescription drugs. Is that a "huge" benefit compared to other employment sectors? As far as PERS goes, how much longer are we going to have to listen to that same old tired canard? The legistlature radically changed PERS, so to keep dragging that issue up is tiresome.

  • Patrick Allen (unverified)
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    Director of ODOT (2005-05 budget $2.858 billion, full time employees 4,590), $123,500.

    CEO of Columbia Sportwear (2005 revenue $1.155 billion, full time employees 2,712): $1,630,239 (total cash compensation)

    Compare at will.

  • Bert Lowry (unverified)
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    Larry:

    In the past when posters have made the sort of claims you're making, I've done the necessary research to discover they were mistaken or lying. I don't feel like doing that research right now. But I strongly suspect you are wrong that Oregon state employees have the highest retirement and health packages in the nation.

    So, please post a link to a reputable source that coroborates your claim. Otherwise, I (and others) will assume you are either lying or easily duped by liars.

    I also doubt your other claims, but they're so vague it would be impossible to coroborate them. I won't ask you to.

  • Salem Dave (unverified)
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    As one of the other commentators pointed out, these numbers are simply base salaries. However, the correct factor to use to account for state benefits paid to these people is 58.6%. This includes sick leave, vacation leave, PERS, and health insurance to name a few. Thus if the state employee's base salary is $100,000, then their total compensation package is (on average) $158,600. That puts a slightly different slant on these numbers, doesn't it?

    Even more interesting is using the search engine to review salaries at an agency like the Employment Department with the Department of Administrative Services. Employment looks very low when compared to the Department of Administrative Services with its hordes of overpaid managers who spend their time assessing other agencies for more money to pay their inflated salaries.

  • engineer (unverified)
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    "Salem Dave", you might also point out that the rate you quote includes social security, workers compensation assessments and the like. I would hardly consider those employee "benefits"; the rate you quote includes costs to the employer of having an employee. I suspect private sector rates are not much different. Furthermore the relevant comparison is not whether or not the salary rate reflects all the compensation the employee receives, but if that state employee is paid commensurate with similar employees (having the same education, experience and skills) in the public sector (and in some cases the private sector) across the nation. After all that is the pool from which these employees are drawn and the pool from which Oregon has to compete with other potential employers.

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    Two notes here... First on Anne Martens and Jesse Cornett. The search here is for roughly the top 1000 managers in the state system. Presumably, they're not among that list.

    Second on the question of Minnis's staff. Some of those folks ARE included on the list. Here's everyone that comes up under "Assembly, Legislative".

    ATKINS, JEANNE DEMOCRAT CAUCUS ADMINISTRATOR 77,112 HALL, JUDY SECRETARY OF THE SENATE 89,892 KENADY, RAMONA CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE- 94,284 NICHOLS, TROY CHIEF OF STAFF TO SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 77,628 SEELEY, CONSTANCE CHIEF OF STAFF TO SENATE PRESIDENT 79,200 SHIPLEY, BRIAN DEMOCRAT CAUCUS ADMINISTRATOR 74,028 THOMAS,PATRICK REPUBLICAN CAUCUS ADMINISTRATOR 70,327 WESTFALL, RITA REPUBLICAN CAUCUS ADMINISTRATOR 74,028

  • anon (unverified)
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    fyi, democratic legislative assistants 19,500

    whenever the electeds talk about quality jobs and wage disparity and right-to-organize the staff rolls their eyes just a little

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