How much help does Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim need?

NORFOLK

It eliminated more than 200 jobs last year and existing employees' wages are frozen, but the city of Norfolk still advertises certain posts: Firefighters. Police recruits. An executive assistant for the mayor.

Paul Fraim has had a taxpayer-funded assistant for years and is the only South Hampton Roads mayor with both an executive assistant and a full-time secretary at City Hall.

The assistant post carries a salary range of $65,443 to $113,028 and will become vacant when Fraim's current executive assistant leaves to follow her husband as he deploys to Asia. The city ran a newspaper ad for the vacancy in December and recruited candidates in December and January.

Asked about the position Tuesday, Fraim said every city mayor had some sort of assistant.

In his case, "that person provides a valuable service," Fraim said. "There's a lot of constituent service there, a lot of preparation that goes into weekly and monthly events the mayor is called upon for. There is plenty."

The city's job description says the aide assists with special projects and community forums and prepares background information for the mayor's meetings and appearances. The assistant also writes speeches and handles some correspondence and represents the mayor at meetings he can't attend.

Though he has a law practice, Fraim devotes most of his days to mayoral work, including promoting Norfolk's economic development and serving on regional boards. The executive assistant job has existed for 10 or 12 years, he said.

Fraim said it will be up to City Manager Marcus Jones to recommend in his draft budget whether the job remains funded or is eliminated. The City Council has final say over the budget.

Vice Mayor Anthony L. Burfoot said the mayoral aide post should be continued. "It's not just a personal assistant per se; there's a lot of work there," he said. Burfoot said the assistant is active in building relationships between the city administration and the business and military sectors.

Councilman Paul Riddick said the post was worth keeping. Councilmen Tommy Smigiel and Andy Protogyrou said they didn't know enough about the post to comment on it.

However, Smigiel said he would favor paying Fraim the salary that would be paid an assistant and have a true full-time mayor.

Fraim is paid $27,000 by the city. His secretary is paid $66,272.

Other local city mayors and their staffs are:

- Chesapeake: Mayor Alan Krasnoff divides his time between his chiropractic practice and mayoral duties.

A coordinator from the city clerk's office assists the mayor by keeping Krasnoff's calendar, sending general correspondence and tracking applications to boards and commissions. The assistant does not attend meetings for the mayor or write papers or speeches. The position pays $32,657.

- Portsmouth: Mayor Kenny Wright has help from city clerk Debra White, who said she spends 50 percent of her time managing the mayor's calendar, scheduling and other support tasks. He has no other assistants.

- Suffolk: Mayor Linda Johnson does not have a personal assistant or staff, city spokeswoman Debbie George said. Johnson and City Council members share the assistance of city clerk Erika Dawley in communicating with and responding to the public. George may help the mayor with her State of the City speech.

- Virginia Beach: Mayor Will Sessoms has a full-time mayoral assistant who is paid $54,440, city spokesman Marc Davis said. Some of Sessoms' speeches are also written by a city public information staffer. Sessoms divides his time between his mayoral duties and his responsibilities as a bank president.

Norfolk's council is scheduled to approve its final budget in May.

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com