DHHS workers getting hefty raises unqualified for top jobs

[WorseBeforeBetter]

Raleigh, N.C. — Gov. Pat McCrory asked state agencies in March to freeze pay raises wherever possible to help the state cover its growing Medicaid shortfall. State personnel records show the agency that oversees Medicaid, the Department of Health and Human Services, gave out hefty raises anyway, especially to the governor's former campaign staffers.

....

Matthew McKillip, 24, makes $87,500 a year as a senior policy planner at DHHS. He received a $22,500 raise on April 1. McKillip, who worked on McCrory's campaign, has no educational background or experience in health policy on his resume, although he did work briefly at a conservative think tank.

Jason Simmons, 35, is also a policy planner at DHHS. He also received a $22,500 raise in April and now earns $62,500 year. Simmons was a campaign operative for 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney before going to work for McCrory, but his available information also shows no educational background or experience in health policy.

....

Also, Anthony Vellucci, the information technology director for NC FAST, received a $23,000 raise in June and now earns $168,000 a year. Vellucci does have an IT background, but the raise comes amid an array of problems with the social services benefits system that has left many hungry families without food stamps.

....

http://www.wral.com/dhhs-workers-getting-hefty-raises-unqualified-for-top-jobs/12785941/?d_posting_successful=1&d_full_comments=1&d_comments_page=1#comments_block

[NCarolinawoman]

1. Good investigative reporting on the part of WRAL.

The comments at the WRAL website were kind of interesting. Looks like a little disillusionment might be setting in...... I hope. I hope.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

2. Yes, some of the comments were encouraging,

but others as cringe-worthy as ever. And kudos to Laura Leslie (again):

DHHS Secretary Wos made news in February for hiring a pre-K director, Dianna Lightfoot, whose online postings revealed she was opposed to pre-K. Lightfoot also tweeted that "ultrasonic waves" from Russia had caused the Japan earthquake.

Lightfoot opted not to accept the job one day after WRAL broke the story. We asked DHHS at that time to explain its vetting process for new hires, but agency personnel declined to respond.

We'll see if anything comes of this...

[barbtries]

3. it's hard to believe this is legal

it's absolutely scandalous. the corruption appears absolute.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

4. And reactions from JoeBlowRepublican range from....

"Disgusting, I didn't vote for this" to "DemoRATS did it, too!"

This will only add to McCrookie's dropping poll numbers. Good.

[alarimer]

5. I hate that weasel McCrory

He is about to really fuck things up where I work too.

There is an actual hit list of people he (or his lackey Skvarla) wants gone. And they are making it easier to get rid of people, by making them exempt from the usual personnel rules. Usually it was just division directors and above who are exempt. Now, it will be down to district managers.

I can't imagine walking in one day to find out my boss has been replaced by some Republican toady.

I am stressed beyond belief. I don't know if I can hold out until the next election. And there's no guarantee the mouth-breathers in this state won't reelect these assholes.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

6. You and me both.

Sorry to hear about how stressed you are. Part of me wants to flee this state; part of me wants to stay and fight. I imagine the mouth-breathers will reelect them, unless the economy is *really* in the tank and unemployment even higher, and it affects them...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

7. McCrory campaign aides now working at DHHS have same pay, less experience than predecessors

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/19/3120669/mccrory-campaign-aides-now-working.html#

Not the most important issue, but anything that shines a bright light on that weasel McCrory...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. Top salaries rise, new high-pay positions created at state DHHS

The N&O isn't letting go of this story. GOOD.

....

The department is being reorganized to resemble a corporate structure, DHHS spokesman Ricky Diaz said, adding that the new positions help establish clear lines of oversight and accountability. The agency filled the new executive positions with people who could make much more in private business, he said.

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House Minority Leader Larry Hall, a Durham Democrat, is calling for a legislative committee meeting Sept. 3 so lawmakers can discuss the pay increases and promotions. Legislators are returning to Raleigh that day to consider overriding Gov. Pat McCrory’s two vetoes.

“The Republicans just passed a budget that fired thousands of educators and provided no pay raises to teachers or rank-and-file state employees,” Hall said in a statement. “At the same time, Governor McCrory’s administration is passing out huge pay raises to former campaign staffers with little to no experience in the jobs they’ve been given. The public is outraged, and they should be. The General Assembly has a responsibility to hold a public committee meeting and ask the governor’s administration for a public explanation of hiring processes and their use of taxpayer money.”

In an interview, Hall said McCrory set the trend for high salaries when he gave his Cabinet members raises in January with no idea what kind of job they’d do.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/23/3131443/top-salaries-rise-in-state-agency.html#storylink=cpy

Little Ricky is one of the 24-year-olds who received a huge pay increase to $85,000...

[marions ghost]

12. N&O is doing a good job on this

...and to Rep Hall of Durham for calling for a public meeting and explanation.

[alarimer]

9. They are trying to put their cronies in at my agency too.

By eliminating education and experience requirement for some top positions, they are trying to embed people in so that they can rape and pillage the environment. They have an actual "hit list" of folks they want gone. They are starting by asking people to fill out forms detailing a lot of sensitive information, including financials. Nothing that they had to do before.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

10. The plot thickens: "Jobs for highly paid McCrory staffers never posted"

By MICHAEL BIESECKER — Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Pat McCrory says a pair of 24-year-old campaign staffers landed senior-level jobs in his administration because they were the most qualified applicants, beating out older candidates. But the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, where Matthew McKillip and Ricky Diaz got big promotions and raises after only a few weeks of government service, has been unable to provide any evidence their positions were ever advertised to other potential applicants or that other candidates were considered.

....

A review of job descriptions for similar government positions posted online by the Office of State Personnel show McKillip and Diaz don't meet the academic or experience requirements to qualify for even entry-level positions in the areas they now oversee. Their pay also exceeds the listed maximums for the most senior listed positions.

....

McCrory recently signed a new GOP-backed law giving him direct authority to hire and fire about 500 additional state government employees, bringing the total number to 1,500. Speaking to a business group in Asheville on Monday, the governor suggested his administration is getting negative coverage of his economic and tax policies because news reporters don't have the education or experience to understand his policies. "This is too complex for the journalists," McCrory said. "They don't have economics degrees. They've not been in business."

In January, McCrory hired Blannie Cheng Garrett, now 28, as a deputy secretary of commerce and as his adviser on jobs and the economy at a salary of $110,000 a year. According to her LinkedIn profile, Garrett has a bachelor's degree in international politics. After earning her law degree in 2010, she worked two years at a Raleigh firm where she focused on corporate taxes and private equity transactions.

She does not list a degree in economics.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/28/3143909/jobs-for-highly-paid-mccrory-staffers.html##storylink=cpy

More lies from McCrookie. And thanks to all the dummy journalists for not letting go of this story!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

11. The Indy: "McCrory's staff: pay pals"

http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/mccrorys-staff-pay-pals/Content?oid=3700041

[marions ghost]

13. What a slap in the face to teachers

thanks for posting the chart...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

14. You're welcome. That chart...

really turned my stomach...