Following a closed-door discussion and unanimous vote Tuesday evening by the Capital Area Transit System, the base salary for CATS CEO Bob Mirabito was increased by 19%—from $147,000 to $175,000—as part of a new three-year contract.
The raise means Mirabito’s salary is now higher than those of Police Chief Carl Dabadie ($160,000), Visit Baton Rouge CEO Paul Arrigo ($163,000) and BREC Superintendent Carolyn McKnight ($157,000), who are among the highest-paid public officials in Baton Rouge. Prior to the raise, Mirabito was already earning more than Mayor Kip Holden, who is paid $146,000 annually.
While Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle urged the CATS board prior to Tuesday’s meeting to reject Mirabito’s contract—calling the raise “appalling”—CATS Board President Donna Collins-Lewis, who also serves on the Metro Council, defended the salary hike, saying it puts CATS in line with other top executive salaries at peer transit agencies.
A review of salaries of transit system heads in peer cities including Charlotte, Little Rock, Memphis and Austin by Daily Report shows Mirabito’s new salary is indeed in the range of what his peers in those cities are paid.
A day following the CATS vote on Mirabito’s contract, the Metro Council took up a contentious personnel issue of its own: the hiring of its next parish attorney. Metro Councilwoman Ronnie Edwards told Daily Report following the hiring of Lea Anne Batson that she’s disappointed with the council’s appointment because she feels the council did not adequately vet the three finalists for the job. But Metro Councilman Chandler Loupe defended the search process and the vote.
“I don’t feel like we as a public body fully vetted this. It felt like it was just a formality and something that was already decided, perhaps behind the scenes,” Edwards said.
Loupe dismissed any notion that Batson—who has been with the parish attorney’s office for 27 years and served as interim parish attorney ever since the council fired former Parish Attorney Mary Roper last fall—had the job secured before the vote was taken.
“That’s clearly not true,” he said. “Anybody that thought that Lea Anne Batson already had enough votes to be selected last night did not understand the process.”
