Tallahassee’s new city manager Karen Jumonville is locked in for a $317,000 annual salary and the price tag is raising eyebrows among some residents.
Some of those concerns were voiced at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting.
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Tallahassee neighbors raise questions about new city manager’s $317,000 salary
“The expensive, out-of-line for cities of our size. We’re not Tampa. This is exactly the reason why so many of neighbors are planning to vote yes on Amendment Three,” Marsha Rule said.
“The contract before us is fiscally irresponsible and lacks the necessary safeguards to protect taxpayers of the city. First, let’s talk about the salary. A base of 317,000 is an incredibly high starting point,” Tiffany Hill said.
Mayor John Dailey negotiated the contract.
He said while the salary is competitive and the same amount Reese Goad would have received it isn’t the most expensive.
A comparison of city manager salaries in cities of similar population size shows:
Fort Lauderdale’s now-former city manager had a $350,000 base salary Cape Coral’s city manager makes about $314,000 per year Port St. Lucie’s city manager gets $275,000 Miami’s city manager makes $475,000
What she [director of human resources] will tell you is that a municipality of our size that owns and operates all of the utilities, actually what we have agreed upon and what is being proposed is lower than the average salary of a position of this kind in other municipalities, so the fact that Dr. Jumonville has agreed to it, I am very thankful, Dailey said Wednesday.
City managers typically carry a massive amount of responsibility.
According to a 2018 position summary, they act as the city’s “CEO” managing and overseeing citywide operations like public safety, budgets, utilities and nearly 3,000 other positions.
They also carry out commission policies and direction.
During the search process, Tallahassee’s starting salary was advertised as “open and dependent upon qualifications,” according to a brochure.
Jumonville and Goad took similar paths to the role both starting as long-time employees of the city and serving as deputy city managers. Goad served as an interim city manager, whereas Jumonville spent years as the growth management director.
Jumonville released a statement ahead of her start date.
“I am honored the City Commission has entrusted me to further advance the City of Tallahassee’s culture of excellence. I am looking forward to October 1 and committed to leading an organization where collaboration is expected, diverse perspectives are valued, and innovation is encouraged. I believe that by working together, we will ensure Tallahassee’s next chapter is one we will all be proud of.
I submitted a public records request for Goad’s most recent agreement. It is still being processed.
Jumonville starts Oct. 1.
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