Although she doesn’t have a vote tonight on the matter, Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle says she wants to be on the record as steadfastly opposed to a three-year contract for Capital Area Transit System CEO Bob Mirabito that includes an annual base salary of $175,000.
“I’m appalled that they would even consider that,” says Marcelle, who has previously called for Mirabito’s resignation. “I mean, it’s just beyond me that they would have the audacity to ask for this kind of raise. I don’t know of anyone in public service who gets a $25,000 annual raise … and for what? What metrics were used to evaluate him?”
The CATS board will take up the proposed contract at a meeting that begins at 4:30 at the offices of BREC, 6201 Florida Blvd. The vote comes after a CATS committee last week recommended approval of the contract by a unanimous 3-0 vote.
If approved, the contract will provide Mirabito a considerable raise over the $147,000 annual salary he’s currently earning. Aside from the base salary—which can be raised as much as 5% annually, depending on performance reviews—the contract also allows for an additional $700 monthly payment to Mirabito to cover out-of-pocket employee expenses for employee benefits, as well as $60 each month to cover his cell phone bill. After the first year of the contract, Mirabito would also have the opportunity to earn an extra $12,500 per year if the CATS board develops metrics for incentive performance pay and Mirabito meets the requirements, according to the contract.
Marcelle sent a letter out to her colleagues today in which she details her reasons for opposing the contract. Among them, she says, is that CATS has failed to deliver on performance promises made to voters who approved a dedicated tax for the system in 2012. Meanwhile, she says the administrative portion of the budget has grown from $1.2 million in 2012 to $3.2 million in 2014. The total budget climbed from $13 million to $24 million over that same time frame due to the injection of the dedicated tax revenue.
“The expectation of CATS and its board was that CATS would be good stewards of public funds,” Marcelle says in the letter. “The citizens of Baton Rouge did not invest in increasing the pay of CATS administration.”
See Marcelle’s complete letter.
—Steve Sanoski
