D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans' chief of staff Schanette Grant is the highest-paid of all chiefs of staff in the D.C. Council, including those of outgoing Chairman and Mayor-elect Vincent Gray and Council Chairman-elect Kwame Brown, reports City Paper's Loose Lips, Alan Suderman. Grant, who earns $132,000, is paid almost $50,000 more per year than the chief of staff of Councilmember Jim Graham (Ward 1), who makes $85,277.
Grant's salary is higher than most chiefs of staff to members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- who earn an average of $120,051 -- according to the Sunlight Foundation. She also earns more than the average D.C. staff lawyer, who earns $114,730, according to PayScale.com. That website lists average area compensation rates as follows:
| Intelligence Analyst | $75,288 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative Assistant | $38,127 | ||||
| Project Manager, Information Technology (IT) | $97,572 | ||||
| Attorney / Lawyer | $114,730 | ||||
| Executive Assistant | $50,098 | ||||
| Management Consultant | $76,864 | ||||
| Consultant, Business Process / Management | $67,346 |
Evans said he is happy to pay for high-quality staff. "My philosophy is I don't have a whole lot of staff members. I pay them well. They do a good job and they stay with me a long time," he said. Grant has served as chief of staff for several years, and as a junior staff member prior to her current role. "If you want the quality of staff to rise, they have to stick around. If you want them to stick around, you have to pay them," he said.
Councilmembers receive a set sum each year to spend on overall personnel costs -- they decide how much to pay each employee. Below is the complete list of Council chief of staff compensation figures.
Grant, Schanette (Jack Evans, Ward 2) $132,000
Esparza, Irma (Kwame Brown, At-large) $127,468
Allen, Charles (Tommy Wells, Ward 6) $115,000
Wharton Boyd, Linda (Michael Brown, At-large) $110,500
Slonneger, Dawn (Vincent Gray, Chairman) $105,000
Meyers, Jon (Yvette Alexander, Ward 7) $104,194
Zvenyach, David (Mary Cheh, Ward 3) $97,000
Holland, Joy (Muriel Bowser, Ward 4) $94,061
Lewis, Grace (Harry Thomas Jr., Ward 5) $93,256
Clements Smith, Joyce Ann (Marion Barry, Ward 8) $90,000
Woodland, Calvin (Jim Graham, Ward 1) $85,277
Councilmember Phil Mendelson does not currently employ a chief of staff, according to Loose Lips. Councilmember David Catania's chief of staff is on leave.
On a different D.C. salary question, Evans told WTOP recently he planned to introduce legislation to cut the salaries of D.C. government employees who don't live in the District by 10%. The measure would save the city $80 million, Evans estimated.
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