Dems: Hire new teachers with Commerce Authority CEO’s pay hike

by David Safier

Yesterday, I commented on the tiny little mention in the Star's business section about Arizona Commerce Authority CEO Don Cardon's salary bump from $183,000 to $300,000 a year. The very well-to-do voting members of the Commerce Authority board probably spend that much on wine with dinner in a year, so what's a little more government money between friends?

The Arizona House Democrats are all over the raise in a press release today, urging Brewer to use the pay hike to hire a few teachers or put a little money back into health care.

If this was a city council matter, the Star' B&O Journalistic Railroad would be all over it — from O'Dell to Brodesky and back to O'Dell — but we probably won't hear about this again in Tucson's paper of record sorry excuse for a daily which I read every morning because (sigh) it's the only game in town.

Here's the House Dems' Media Release.

House Democrats urge Brewer to create teaching jobs with rich CEO’s raise

STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX – House Democrats are urging Gov. Jan Brewer to rescind her taxpayer-funded payout to rich CEO Don Cardon, her head of the Commerce Authority, and hire more teachers for Arizona’s suffering schools.

Brewer’s sweet deal for Cardon includes: a $300,000 salary that can be increased but not decreased, a $50,000 signing bonus, a target bonus of 25 percent, a $1,000-a-month vehicle allowance, six weeks of paid time off a year and $30,000 in supplemental allowance.

“At a time when Republicans have fired teachers, cut salaries and failed to create jobs with the new Commerce Authority, Gov. Brewer is giving a rich CEO a $120,000 raise,” said House Minority Leader Chad Campbell. “This is a direct slap in the face to taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet. It’s time to hold Republicans in power in this state accountable for where they spend our tax dollars.”

Cardon got the salary boost and bonuses after he moved from the now defunct state Commerce Department where he already was making $183,000 per year. Cardon still hasn’t brought in new business and jobs in Arizona, but Brewer gave him a big raise anyway. Meanwhile, Arizona taxpayers have to pay more in sales taxes to offset Brewer’s massive cuts to education as children crowd into classrooms in a nearly impossible learning environment.

“Gov. Brewer got caught red handed on her insider deal and now it’s time to pay,” said Assistant House Minority Leader Steve Farley. “She should hand over the money to our struggling schools and our crumbling education system in Arizona.”

Lately, Brewer has been MIA from the media and the public, but House Democrats are calling on her to come out and take away her rich-CEO, sweetheart payout to Cardon and create teaching jobs at Arizona’s most broken schools.

“Gov. Brewer’s coddling of the super rich is a prime example of how she likes to run this state — first she kicks 280,000 struggling Arizonans off of health care, slashes school funding raises their taxes,” House Minority Whip Anna Tovar said. “Now she’s handing over their money to a rich CEO.”

UPDATE: Dylan Smith of TucsonSentinel.com wrote a comment on my earlier post about Don Cardon's raise. Apparently, I understated the value of Cardon's salary package.

Don't forget the package also includes a $1,000-a-month vehicle allowance, six weeks of paid time off a year and a $30,000 supplemental allowance contributed by private donors that will cover benefits not included in Cardon’s state compensation.

The three-year renewable contract includes $300,000 in base salary that can be increased but not decreased, a target bonus of 25 percent and a one-time signing bonus of $50,000.