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No matter how you count it, Phil Shucet is making a ton of money as the new head of Hampton Roads Transit. Under his contract with HRT, he's receiving $40,000 each month, roughly double his predecessor's pay when you account for benefits.
Plenty of people understandably argue that's too much money to run a public agency. Shucet, a former head of the Virginia Department of Transportation, is making more than the president of the United States, far more than the governor and more than most folks running transit agencies in America.
Shucet can counter that he gave up lucrative contracts to take the HRT gig and that even at $480,000 a year, he'll make less than he would have as a private businessman. He can point out that in America, somebody's value as an employee is precisely what he can get from his employer.
T hat will do little to turn down the volume of folks who say his paychecks are too big. But if Shucet is making too much, how much is right?
How much should the region pay a man to end the unraveling of the most important transportation project in the region? How much should it pay him to sort out a financial mess caused by too little attention and too little oversight? How much should it pay him to bring The Tide in with no more delays or overruns, How much should it pay a person to bring credibility to an agency sorely in need of some?
Given Shucet's record, both Norfolk and HRT's governors quickly concluded that he was the right guy to right The Tide, even at $40,000 a month. In exchange for that substantial sum, the region should demand nothing less than everything: A train that's open by May 2011, that costs no more than $338 million, that runs well and safely and sets the stage for expansion.
Shucet has already found savings equal to more than his contract is worth, but that's to be expected. He has already begun bringing sanity and clarity to The Tide, which he was hired to do.
If Shucet's pace isn't quick enough, if his progress isn't sufficient, it's worth noting that his contract with HRT can be ended in 45 days. But it's also worth noting that Shucet has far more than a paycheck to lose if The Tide goes awry.
Shucet has put his future on this light rail line. This is a man who spent years building up a store of credibility rivaled by few transportation pros in America. He built some of Virginia's biggest recent highway projects - including Interstate 64 on the Peninsula and the mixing bowl in Springfield - and managed them well and transparently.
"I've put my reputation into the game," he said.
Hampton Roads has invested in a first-class problem-solver. If $40,000 is what he requires to fix the mess at HRT, and he does what he's promised, he will have been worth the money.
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All government officials and employees (state, local, federal) should be paid no more the median household income of the localities in which they work. In the case of Hampton Roads that would be $22,989 which is 1/2 of the median household income of $45,979.
If the rest of don't earn these incomes why should public employees, paid out of our taxes, be paid at these inflated rates. If you don't like that pay scale and think you can do better in the private sector, then quit, and join the misery the rest of us are suffering in this economy.
Karl Marx
would love your idea
"I rest my case."
Our comments say it all!! (Hello pilot,anyone there???)
Getting the Job Done
$40,000 per month? If it gets the job done sooner, a $300+ million job that should be complete in 12 more months or less, and prevents millions more in cost overruns, it will be worth it, in my estimation.
No Wonder LRT is Over Budget....
On the front page of the HR's section, there was an article about teachers and programs being cut from the Suffolk PS..and Suffolk isn't alone. The article says, "somebody's value as an employee is precisely what he can get from an employer," sums up what Va thinks about public schools and teachers. Many of those who may be cut don't make $40,000 a year.
Shucet might be the smartest transportation guru to ever hit the commonwealth...but in these times and for a project that was questionable to begin with, the $40,000 a year salary and that quote are a callous slap in the face to every hardworking American.
And the mixing bowl in Springfield...is like taking your life in your hands just to navigate. It might be a "big" project, but bigger doesn't equate with better....and I grew up in Springfield.
Take the last train to porkville
For all you lovers of electrified trolleys, the initial capital costs are one thing, but wait until the annual operating expenses come due and you'll be whistling a different tune.
Shucet may be good, but he certainly isn't worth the price of two Secretaries of Defense.
Once constant factor that won't change for this Toonerville blackhole nightmare: LIGHT RAIL = HEAVY TAXES.
How much you ask?
$270.000. The same as what townes was ... OOPS....is still is making.
Where is all this additional money coming from? What pot of gold was found to cover this half-million dollar cost? Since he was hired to fix norfolk's train system, is norfolk is paying the additional cost?
What benefit is townes providing for his salary? Or is that just the hush money so he won't start naming names about the fraud surrounding the LRT boondoggle.
Wikipedia definition of HRT:
Wikipedia definition of HRT: Financial Black Hole. The Tide needs to be stopped in its tracks. With declining property taxes,declining sales taxes and budget cuts from Richmond, is now the time for Virginia Beach to "invest" in a subsidized boondoggle?
sell it
HRT needs to be sold to the highest bidder and privatized. As it now stands the money hemmorage on taxpayers will never stop. It's a "train wreck"
We could get Dr. Kevorkian for a lot less
And what the Tide really needs is to be put out of its misery before it drains us even further.