Amidst a nationwide landslide of municipal bankruptcies, Charlottesville city government is bucking the public-sector belt-tightening trend by offering an astounding $66,560 (full-time-equivalent) salary for a skateboarding instructor.
The lucky beneficiary of government (i.e. taxpayer) largesse need only be moderately qualified and must meet the following minimum standards:
Education: Graduation from high school or GED equivalency is required
Experience: Minimum requirements include an equivalent combination of education and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the job. Minimum of 3 months of teaching in said specialty area. [emphasis added]
Skills: Must have a background in specified area of instruction. Must be able to demonstrate positive customer service skills when communicating with participants, parents and staff.
Special Requirements: Must be at least 18 years old.
With the ability to earn a higher FTE salary than most local school teachers, police officers—or even the city’s disgraced, former Director of Communications, Ric Barrick—skateboarding instruction should be the new rage in post-GED employment. No student loans, no college education expenses, and no wasted time studying make this the ideal gig for anyone who doesn’t mind a little sun and prefers to dress casually.
While $66,560 (FTE) per year may seem excessive for an 18-year-old with virtually no education, consider the source. Under-qualified Charlottesville City Manager, Maurice Jones, who presumably oversees the salaries of all city employees, now earns north of $173,000 per year, exclusive of his platinum benefit package. That salary exceeds the compensation of the governors of forty-three states. And, it might explain the outrageous salaries paid to just about everyone—including skateboarding instructors—in the employ of Charlottesville city government.
What else is new?
Democrats: More worried about how a Republican spend his/her own money than how Dems spend yours….
Ummmm…wow. Speechless. Prolly a good time for a drunk sailor comment.
Council repeatedly turns down funding requests made by Chief Longo to enhance police protection on the Downtown Mall, but they can come up with $66K for THIS?
It’s really astounding — but I am getting the sense from reading ongoing online citizen comments about Council actions that Charlottesville MAY be waking up to what is going on. Visit online outlets for NBC 29, Newsplex, The Daily Progress, and The Hook to read the voluminous negative opinions about Council from a vast number of citizens.
I cannot recall a time during my 16-year residence when I have read and heard so many negatives about Council…from the mishandling of Occupy Charlottesville, to proposing removal of Civil War statues, to the non-city resident status of Maurice Jones, to the numerous non-local matter resolutions, to the recent “solution” of removing Downtown Mall benches instead of dealing directly with the small number of troublemakers occupying the Mall.
We have yet to get any resolution to open-ended matters – such as a new Parks and Recreaion policy to treat all applicants to use City venues equally (I mean, how long can this reasonably take?)…a job description for the phantom “Director of Public Safety” title connected to the City Manager position as written in city Code (what are his duties and limitations especially with regards to ordering Chief Longo and the police around, as he did during Occupy Charlottesville?)…a final resolution to Maurice Jones’ rumored residential move inside city limits…a response to the blistering condemnation of Mayor Huja in the letter regarding the alleged Ric Barrick bid-rigging debacle…and a response to John Whitehead’s letter of objection to the unfair and uneven treatment of charging oppressive fees to conservative groups like SURF and the JATP but not to progressive kindred spirits like Occupy Charlottesville.
I suppose they think if they just ignore these things that they’ll go away. Not so. Some of us are biding just enough time of inaction to pass before we hit them again with pressure for acceptable resolution.
Shouldn’t this be like a minimum-wage-ish summer job?
and what does the City pay for those who will make the decision as to which skateboard instructor will be hired? And what are their credentials?
You’d be insulting drunken sailors.
hum, doesn’t require a teaching degree- who is going to approve the hire?
strange, you never see an opening for a City Council/Government.
My hometown has been taken over by Idiots…
Have to remember the city council is of belief that we the city who live in socialist republic needs these things. Instead of fixing road, streets etc. Oh! I forgot that is not important when trying to undo all the unjust socail injustice that have been done by us the property and business owner. Plus this is punishment for all of us who refuse to vote for or speak up for the city council social agenda, shame on us
strange, you never see an opening for a “Instructor- Buying Votes- 101”, or “Instructor- Spending Someone Elses Money- 101”.
Are they hiring?
For 66K it should be a former pro boarder!!! If its just a kid that can board then the pay should be much lower….I wonder if retirement beni’s are included
So Charlottesville has 66,000 to be giving away to a “Skate Board Instructor” maybe now they can stop crying about the schools needing all the time. This is throwing money to the wind. I sure am glad I am not in Charlottesville.
@Ken. There is no exaggeration here. People compare salaries based on an annual rate. A few part-timers making bloated salaries really adds up. Would you be willing to buy gasoline at 4 cents per oz.? Or insurance at only “pennies a day”?
Gee, my calendar doesn’t say April 1…
Oh, please. You are completely misrepresenting the nature of this position.
Hyperbolize much? I’ll bet you didn’t count on anyone fact-checking your statements. Guess what? Equating a part-time position to its full time equivalent is disingenuous. It’s like telling the guy who got $50 for shoveling snow from your driveway (the going rate in Fluvanna county) it’s outrageous because that’s an FTE of $101,500. I just looked up the Charlottesville Parks and Rec schedule of classes and guess what I discovered. The total number of hours of instruction offered is a whopping 34(!). Actually, that’s rounded up because three of the four courses offered are 45 minutes in duration. But that means that the instructor can expect to receive somewhere between $656-1088 total compensation for the entire summer. Moreover, your statement, “The lucky beneficiary of government (i.e. taxpayer) largesse… ” is also fallacious. This salary is NOT a gift or an entitlement paid by taxpayers at all. The FEES for attending the classes are $54 for residents and $81 for non-residents for the shorter classes and $65/98 for the two-hour class. Sorry, folks, no socialism here…
Rob Schilling Am I supposed to be offended? Just because I’m not one of your “Shills for Schilling”? You can’t deny that some of the posts here played right into your deception. Phyllis Thomas said, “So Charlottesville has 66,000 to be giving away to a “Skate Board Instructor” Carole stated, “Council repeatedly turns down funding requests made by Chief Longo to enhance police protection on the Downtown Mall, but they can come up with $66K for THIS?” Did you bother to correct either one of them? No? I stand by my earlier statement.
Do you need to know how to use a skateboard to get this job? If not, tell me where to apply.
Rob, Carol
What is the real issue going on here. A City Council that has given itself and city government this sense of falase impowerment. Why! because for a very long time, the same group of individuals can be counted on to keep voting in the same group of like thinking. That money that is collected and placed in the city general fund is their to do with what they wish. Instead of focusing on what are really the core function of government is! When I have asked certain current member on city council I get this far off stare. When I ask city employees I basicly am told to mind my own business. Someday the rest of voting population will wake up (yes long over due). Until that happen all of us who live in county and city are stuck with head in sand attitude that there is endless bucket of money that we the council can spend. The city, the church and other non-profit group need to step and take back from council that city is now doing. Do I need to list these items. No we should already know what they are.
Marjorie, FTE is THE standard for these comparisons. If not used it is unfair and you would be correctly criticizing for not comparing apples to apples. So this is the proper way and only way to fairly compare and has been since prior to 1974 in United Nations Practice and Standards Protocols and prior to 1970 in GAAP worldwide accounting standards.
Dear Rob and Commenters, A “World Class City” by definition
must pay “World Class Wages”. Correct?
I’m not disputing the FTE comparisons, what I’m taking issue with is the figure was used to incite the furor evidenced by the bloggers here. (See Stan Pilcher, Phyllis Thomas, for example)
Several people jumped to the conclusion that Charlottesville hired a single instructor for $66k. Moreover, Mr. Schillings stated that the taxpayers were paying this salary. He failed to mention that fees charged by Parks and Rec for the class would cover the salary.
Based on the total number of hours for this position (34), the comparison the FTE is 0.016. Another way to look at it: The city would have to hire 61 part-time skateboard instructors in order to actually pay the full-time salary.
Moreover, one must also take into account the nature of Parks and Rec positions. As the city does not employ full time dance, art, swimming, karate, cooking, fitness…and many more instructors, one would consider these positions as contract workers. While the direct dollar cost of the contractor position would appear to be high, it is hardly comparable to the cost burden of a benefit entitled FTE.