Big salaries. Big staffs. Big government. (Big part of the problem)

John Torbett and a few other legislators are making some noise about recreating Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts right here in good ol’ North Carolina.  If he and his crew are serious, they’re going to have to step on the toes of some of their cronies, and call out some shenanigans they themselves were around to watch said cronies perpetrate.

The General Assembly.  Here is a 2017 report:

N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger has four staffers making more than $100,000 annually, while only two staffers for House Speaker Tim Moore are in the same salary range. Berger, a Republican from Eden, released his staff’s salaries this week in response from a public records request from The News & Observer. The N&O previously published salary records for Moore’s staff and for the staff and Cabinet secretaries of Gov. Roy Cooper.

Berger employs more full-time employees and has a slightly higher total payroll than Moore, records show. Berger’s office includes 15 permanent staff members earning a total of $1.07 million, while Moore’s office includes 13 permanent staffers earning a total of $1.01 million – or $1.04 million if you include Moore’s three paid interns.

Here’s the full list of Berger staff salaries:

• Jim Blaine, chief of staff, $175,000
• Andrew Tripp, general counsel, $155,000
• Amy Auth, deputy chief of staff for communications and operations, $114,188
• Erica Shrader, deputy chief of staff for policy, $106,575
• Darrell Malcolm, executive assistant, $77,648
• Kolt Ulm, research assistant and paralegal, $66,990
• William Tomlinson, administrative assistant, $60,302
• Sara Ulm, research assistant and paralegal, $55,825
• Shelly Carver, administrative assistant and spokeswoman, $54,500
• Stephen Ogden, research assistant and paralegal, $46,690
• Dylan Watts, research assistant and paralegal, $42,500
• Wanda Shivers, legislative clerk, $40,000
• David Whitaker, research assistant and paralegal, $39,461
• Patricia Berger, research assistant and paralegal, $31,569
• Peggy Halifax, research assistant, $7,916

By 2023, reports indicated that Berger’s chief of staff Brian Fork was the second-highest paid person in state government’s legislative branch — behind only Paul Coble, who runs the day-to-day operations of the legislative complex:

[…] The highest-paid state employee at the Legislative Building is the person who runs the building itself: Legislative Services Officer Paul Coble. The former Raleigh mayor and former Wake County commissioner earns $214,613 a year. Coble received a 3.5% raise from the previous year. The next highest paid state employee is Brian Fork, who is chief of staff for Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger. Fork earns $200,069. The next three highest paid employees are all division directors, followed by House Speaker Tim Moore’s chief of staff, Neal Inman — all of whom receive salaries between $175,000 and nearly $180,000.

There are 15 state employees in the legislature who earn more than $150,000 a year, including other division directors, general counsel and principal clerks. The lowest-paid state employees at the Legislative Building and Legislative Office Building are responsible for the buildings’ security, food, paperwork and maintenance.[…]

Keep in mind that — for 2025 — the legislature is slated to convene in January and adjourn at the end of July.  That’s seven months of work. 

UNC. Now that we’re warmed up, let’s move over to the University of North Carolina system. Wunderkind Peter Hans spent 2018 to 2020 running the state community college system.  In 2020, he was bumped up to run the state universities.  What’s his professional background, you ask?  Let’s see:

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Okay.  Now keep that in mind as you read THIS:

UNC System President Peter Hans on Thursday received a hefty bonus for his performance over the past year — and a major increase to his salary. Hans, who leads the system of North Carolina’s public universities, on June 1 will begin earning an annual salary of $600,000. That’s almost $150,000 more than his current salary of roughly $455,000, as listed in the UNC System’s salary database.

In addition to his new salary, Hans also received a bonus of $442,200 for his work over the past year, which will be paid to his university retirement account.[…]

I’m sorry.  There’s just something not right about a state employee – especially one with Hans’ thin professional background – banking more than a million dollars per year at our expense.

He’s pulling down more than the president of the United States — who gets $400K per year plus $50K for expenses. 

Hans is also pulling down more than Josh Stein ($165,750), Jeff Jackson ($146,421)  and Rachel Hunt ($146,421) combined.

Again, Hans is in his FIFTH year on the UNC job.  He also worked to introduce DEI to the state’s colleges.  His team at UNC also made trouble for legislators’ attempts at conservative reform on the state’s campuses.

How is this Hans deal not like flushing cash down the toilet?  *Seriously.* 

MORE:

[…] The system Board of Governors, to whom Hans reports, approved both measures. When he entered the presidency in 2020, Hans asked the board to pay him a lower salary than those of previous UNC System presidents. But under that plan, his pay has been subject to additional performance bonuses, which for the last few years have been roughly the same amount as his salary. Last year, for instance, he received a bonus of roughly $453,000. The board also approved a new term sheet for Hans, which details the benefits he is entitled to receive as president and will be valid for the next five years. He will remain eligible for bonuses under his new terms. Hans has been president of the 17-campus system since 2020. If he remains in his role until 2030, when his new terms will expire, he will be the longest serving UNC System president in more than 30 years.[…]