CA - Highest paid state employee is a prison doctor making over $777,000 a year.

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A prison doctor that has been, since 2005, on "desk duty" because he was ruled unfit to treat patients.


Prison doctor gets paid for doing little or nothing

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prison-doctor-20110713,0,5931598.story

By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times

July 13, 2011

Reporting from Sacramento -- The highest-paid state employee in California last year, a prison surgeon who took home $777,423, has a history of mental illness, was fired once for alleged incompetence and has not been allowed to treat an inmate for six years because medical supervisors don't trust his clinical skills.

Since July 2005, Dr. Jeffrey Rohlfing has mostly been locked out of his job — on paid leave or fired or fighting his termination — at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, state records show. When he has been allowed inside the facility, he has been relegated to reviewing paper medical histories, what prison doctors call "mailroom" duty.

Rohlfing's $235,740 base pay, typical in California's corrections system, accounted for about a third of his income last year. The rest of the money was back pay for more than two years when he did no work for the state while appealing his termination. A supervisor had determined that Rohlfing provided substandard care for two patients, according to state Personnel Board records.
 
The psychiatrist's got him beat.

California Prison Psychiatrist Paid $838,706
By Michael B. Marois - Jul 5, 2011 8:22 PM GMT+0200

The chief psychiatrist for California’s overcrowded prison system was paid $838,706 in 2010, more than any other state employee that year, payroll figures released today show.

The doctor, whose name wasn’t released, had a salary range of $261,408 to $308,640, according to data released todby California Controller John Chiang. The total compensation was raised by bonuses or payout of unused vacation time, according to the controller’s office.

The figures show that the 10 highest-paid state employees each earned more than $500,000 in 2010, for a total of $6.2 million. All but three were doctors or dentists for the Corrections Department. Joe Dear, the chief investment officer at the California Public Employees Retirement System, ranked seventh with a gross pay of $548,142, the data show.

Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the prison system, didn’t immediately respond to a telephone request for comment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael B. Marois in Sacramento [email protected]
 
The psychiatrist's got him beat.

Hmmm... in the final year before retirement, they pay out unused sick and vacation time, which still count towards retirement pay. So his retirement pay will be (at least partially) based on that $383,706 number. What do they get in retirement? 90% of final year's pay plus COLA over time? Nice...
 
It's also quite common with high-level executives at large corporations.

Yeah, but the difference is I'm not forced to pay for that executives salary (unless they are in someway connected to the govt.)

TheBlackPeterSchiff is correct - in cases where the free market permits gross salaries for employees offering relatively little value, its my option to pay for them.

Still, companies that do not "partner" with government, almost always, tend to be more judicious with their compensation, as they dont have the security of a government safety net, or the ability to collude. Unless their executives are intentionally trying to liquidate a company's assets, they would not pay an employee millions to do "nothing", because they would inevitably fail. In other words, the market determines how much a company can afford to pay their employees.

Those companies who do partner with government tend to have the same bloated executive compensation - such examples are, again, made possible by government. (i.e. "too big to fail")

FWIW Brian - I'll give you my argument of an "absolute". I should know better, but hopefully you were able to get the overall point.
 
Is it just me or should no public sector employees make more money than the President?
 
Is it just me or should no public sector employees make more money than the President?

I'll go one further - the president should be a voluntary job, with no salary.
Room, board, security - that's it. No interns, no cigars, no private country club vacations.

Just my humble opinion...
 
I'll go one further - the president should be a voluntary job, with no salary.
Room, board, security - that's it. No interns, no cigars, no private country club vacations.

Just my humble opinion...

I'll go further... anyone in politics should not get paid unless they lower taxes or repeal laws.

Pay'em by the vote - and we'll see how their voting record changes.
 
Edit: weird all my comment got erased.

 
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Here's a doctor for ya:

DrEvazan.jpg


http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cornelius_Evazan
 
I'll go further... anyone in politics should not get paid unless they lower taxes or repeal laws.

Pay'em by the vote - and we'll see how their voting record changes.

Thumbs up to that, great idea.
 
Most are connected to the government. And even not, if you are a customer, it goes into the price, just like taxes.

The difference is, I don't have to buy products from XYZ corporation, but I am forced to pay taxes.

Also, if XYZ corporation pays its CEO (or anyone else) too much, it will be non competitive and will end up going out of business. But government employees continue to get paid, regardless of gross incompetence.

So I see no reasonable comparison's between an incompetent and overpaid government employee and a highly paid corporate executive.
 
Except for the the fact that there's a revolving door between the two jobs?
Anybody have a rolling count list of the conspiring hacks on both sides playing their 'Money Musical Chairs'?

The latest of the Johnny Come Latelys... moving on to Greener Pastures after you've been fertilizing those pastures with Taxpayer dollars!

Senator Phil Gramm @ UBS Warburg 7 figure salary
Senator Judd Gregg @ Golden Sachs 7 figure salary
Senator Chris Dodd @ Motion Picture Association MPAA 7 figure salary
Senator Evan Bayh @ US Chamber of Commerce & FOX NEWS
WH Chief of Staff Andy Card @ US Chamber of Commerce
 
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