Is Esserman Worth Over $200,000 a Year?
Monday, April 18, 2011
Providence Police Chief Col. Dean Esserman no longer has a contract with the city, but he has retained the majority of perks that came with his original agreement, GoLocalProv has learned.
His base salary will remain $168,000, which doesn’t include a longevity bonus for having worked in the city for more than seven years. Last year, his $11,757 bonus plus additional end-of-year payments made the Chief the highest paid employee in the city at $194,715.63.
When you factor in his medical and dental insurance plus other benefits, the Police Chief stands to make well over $200,000 in the coming year.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut it doesn’t end there. Esserman is now an at-will employee that receives unlimited business expenses, 15 sick days with accumulation and sell back rights, 28 vacation days with accumulation and sell back rights, a cell phone and a computer for business and personal use. The Chief is also among the few members of the Police Department not affected by Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare’ recommendation to limit the “take home” use of police cars.
He Should Have Taken A Pay Cut
Pare released his top-to-bottom review of the Police Department last week and recommended Mayor Taveras retain Esserman. The report mostly praised the Chief’s work over much of the past decade, most notably his Community Policing Imitative.
Freshman Councilman Davian Sanchez agreed with Pare’s assessment of the Chief and said he was happy to have Esserman stay on as head of the department. “[Col. Dean Esserman] has improved the Providence Police Department,” Sanchez said. “As long as he keeps improving it, [staying on] is fine by me.”
Despite thinking highly of the Chief, Sanchez said he still makes too much. He said his new agreement should have involved a pay cut similar to the ten percent reduction a number of members of the Mayor’s administration have taken.
“He should take a pay cut,” Sanchez said. “The city needs help and as head of the Police Department, he should lead by example and follow in the footsteps of Mayor Taveras.”
Voluntarily Cuts Second Payment Plan
Esserman was willing to part with at least one portion of his agreement. At the beginning of the year, the Chief voluntarily gave up his Section 457 benefit, which guaranteed that the city would make annual payments into a tax-free investment account, according to Spokeswoman Melissa Withers.
The city originally contributed $12,000 to the plan in 2003 and added $1,000 every year. In January, a number of City Councilmen, including Finance Chair. John Igliozzi, called Esserman’s plan a second pension. At the time, Igliozzi blasted the Chief for not wanting to give up the Section 457 plan.
“Esserman didn’t volunteer to take it out. It was done by the council leadership and myself saying, ‘Hey, you know, enough is enough and we’re not obligated to pay that second pension anymore,’” Igliozzi told GoLocalProv. “He was kicking and screaming for the additional funds.”
But Withers disputed the notion that it was a second pension and said praised Esserman for offering to give it up.
“It was never a second pension,” Withers said. “It was a negotiated part of his contract which he volunteered to give up.”
Sick Days/Vacation Days/Business Expenses
While giving up the yearly $1,000 payments to his Section 457 plan, the Chief still has plenty of extra cash that will be owed to him at the end of each year or whenever he steps away from the job.
According to language in his original contract, “At termination of employment the Chief shall be entitled to a cash payment for his accrued sick leave for not more than a total of ten days of unused sick leave for each year, or fraction thereof, employment.” At the end of his employment, Esserman will also be allowed to cash out up to 15 days of vacation time for each year.
However, the Chief also negotiated a perk in his contract that allows him sell back up to 15 vacation and/or sick days annually, something many city employees cannot do. Once he elects to sell back those days, the city is required to include payment in his next paycheck.
The city will continue to pay all “reasonable and usual expenses” that come with the job. In addition, the city pays the cost of membership to professional organizations the Chief “deems reasonably necessary to maintain and improve his professional skills and benefit the Providence Police Department.
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