ABQ Mayor promised to cut, but did he?

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque Mayor Richard “RJ” Berry knew he would walk into a huge budget mess when he campaigned for the job last year. Sure enough, dwindling tax revenue leaves a $66 Million dollar budget deficit. He pledged to cut anywhere he could.

“We're trying to set the example for other departments by running as lean as a government as we can,” Berry said on inauguration day, Dec. 1, 2009.

Mayor Berry promised to cut the fat from the previous administration, and run a leaner city hall. More than five months have passed since he took the oath of office. News 13 crunched the numbers, looking at the highest paying of what are called unclassified city jobs. The people in those jobs can be hired or fired by the Mayor. Many call them political appointees.

The Mayor's number 2, Chief Administrative Officer David Campbell makes more than any other city worker, $159,000 a year. His predecessor Ed Adams made $148,000 a year.

News 13’s Special Assignment Reporter Michael Herzenberg asked Mayor Berry: “David Campbell is making $11,000 more that his predecessor, Ed Adams. Why?”

“I ended up with an individual that I think was well worth the salary that we're paying, for the job that he's doing,” said Berry. Campbell came to the job with 28 years of experience inside and out of city hall, and the Mayor points out that now Campbell fills three positions.

That’s because Mayor Martin Chavez’s Chief Financial Officer, Mark Valenzuela, and Chief Operating Officer, Irene Garcia, left their jobs, and have not been replaced. They each made $129,000 per year. “We're saving taxpayers, it's in the several hundred thousand dollar range,” said Berry.

The Mayor’s second highest paying hire though, City Attorney Robert Perry earns $138,000. That annual salary stands at $20,000 more than the man he replaced, Bob White, who pulled in $138,000. (Side note: Bob White now works for Albuquerque as an Assistant City Attorney, making his department head salary, and plans to retire in June).

“Even in 2005 dollars, Rob is at, or below, the average salary for city attorneys, (of cities of comparable size) but the basic fact is, I wanted to hire the right man for the right job,” said Berry.

The City also says it will make money in the long run by winning more cases. That remains to be seen, but what you can see now by looking at the bulk of big Berry hires: he did what he said he would do.

Chief Public Safety Officer Darren White makes $125,000 a year. That’s $5000 dollars less than Pete Dinelli who made $130,000.

Their spokesmen TJ Wilham makes $75,000 a year. That’s $13,000 less than John Walsh who pulled in $88,000.

From Crime to Culture, Betty Rivera makes $97,000 a year running everything from the Biopark to Tingley Beach to the Balloon Museum. The Director’s salary deflated $25,000. The former Cultural Affairs Director, Ray Darnell, made $122,000 a year.

There are other salary reductions and empty offices. Berry eliminated more than a dozen positions, like the Executive Deputy Police Chief. Joe Bowdich made $113,000 a year. He retired and Berry did not replace him.

The Mayor has cut some fat from city hall: a total savings on the higher up positions of $373 per hour or $776,000 per year. That’s a 9% overall salary reduction from the administration of former Mayor Martin Chavez.