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School District 43 has a new resource as it gets its finances in order NEWS 4
Payout exceeds $429K
POCO CHANGES RULES TO AVOID REPEAT OF SITUATION AFTER RETIRING CITY MANAGER COLLECTS $429,566 John KURUCZ jkurucz@thenownews.com
Coquitlam reveals its top wage earners NEWS 5
Options for a new dryfloor sports facility NEWS 12
PHOTO BY JENNIFER GAUTHIER
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Athletes welcomed
SPORTS 25
Port Coquitlam’s former chief administrative officer left the city with a massive bill upon his retirement in April of 2012. According to remuneration documents released Monday, Tony Chong was paid $429,566 in 2012, a figure that represents more than the salaries of the next two highest-paid staffers combined. According to Mayor Greg Moore, Chong’s enormous payout was due to the hundreds of unused vacation days that were accumulated over his nearly 30-year tenure with the city. Service severance payments were also factored into the payout, Moore said, although he added the city has changed its policies to limit the amount of vacation carryover staff can accumulate. As was the case in 2011, Chong was the lone city staffer to earn more than $200,000 last year. Other top earners among city staff include: • Barry Becker, director of parks and recreation: $183,071 • Laura Lee Richard, director of development services: $166,407 • Mindy Smith, director of corporate services: $166,407 • Albert Jensen, manager of environmental services: $161,493 • Nick Delmonico, the city’s fire chief: $154,991 • Andrew Wood, director of engineering and operations: $152,346 • Al Nicholson, deputy fire chief of facilities and training: $147,059 • Terry Hochstetter, deputy fire chief
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Tony Chong, seen here in March 2012, retired a month later with hundreds of unused vacation days that he was paid out for. of operations and training: $141,195. • David Currie, manager of transportation: $133,931 All told, 37 city staff members made more than $100,000 in 2012, with Smith claiming the highest expense total at $12,048. The 2011 numbers indicate 30 city staffers made more than $100,000, compared to 28 staffers who eclipsed that mark in 2010. Moore topped all earners among council members both in terms of pay and expense totals. Moore earned $93,033 in his capacity as mayor, and claimed $5,445 in expenses.
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His role as the chair of the Metro Vancouver board saw him earn an additional $72,372, while claiming $18,638 in expenses last year. He told the Tri-Cities NOW Tuesday that his expense totals in his capacity as mayor related to attending the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference and his work on the TransLink Mayors’ Council. His Metro totals, he explained, came largely because of attending conferences and taking trips to Victoria to meet with MLAs. All other council members made $36,118 last year.