Virginia Beach city manager offered $219,000 a year to stay on the job

Wow, a freshman senator (federal) starts out at $174,000. So, this guy is making $45,000 more for a local job than a senator, who is responsible for the well being of the entire state's population, as well as federal.
WAY OVERPAID.

Well, let's see here. Recently there had to be cutbacks in the Va. Beach courts, alot of the city employees are due raises ( i.e. police officers, deputies, fire fighters, you know the people WHO ACTUALLY WORK TO PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF VA. BEACH ) yet they have been told they wont be getting them. Sure, some of the money is from the state, where cutbacks have come from, but how about Mr. Spore decline his raise and free healthcare and auto allowance, and let the city chip in to pay the people who actually deserve the raises and who do actual work. Cause for the life of me, I dont know what this man does, that the Mayor of Va. Beach couldnt do himself! Im sure all the city employees would love to have free benefits. They put their lives on the line everyday, What Is It Mr. Spore does to deserve this? Give the citizens of Va. Beach a vote in this.

I'm a Va Beach native and it is disappointing, to say the least, that this man is getting freebies from the City when Council and Department Managers are making the City's decisions on a daily basis. Who is Mr. Spore managing when Va Beach has the largest municipal organization in the state and all Departments have more than adequate people to deal with problems and issues as they arise? Why is he being paid so much considering the economy is not good and Departments will have to make budget cuts or possibly be laid off or furloughed as a result of hard economic times? This is ridiculous and the Citizens of Va Beach need to approach their council members to air their opinions about this. I agree with EJK, let the citizens vote on his salary and benefits, not City Council.

This is the kind of stuff that has our country in the shape it is today.

How about cutting his PAY.

This is the most obscene thing I have heard of in a long time. Back in July I had to take a 5% salary cut. Because of that, I have to buy food with a Visa, pay utilities with a Mastercard, pay the minimum payment on both of those with a Discover and pay the Discover card with a payday loan. This is just to make ends meet for my family of four. And, on top of that, the job market is so bad a second job is out of the question - not to mention I spend most of my free time volunteering with the Boy Scouts teaching them the leadership skills and moral values that are SORELY lacking in today's leaders (both in AND out of government).

But it's nice to know that our city manager is making more than SEVEN times my pay. I can now sleep soundly. Good job Virginia Beach. Oh, and I can only assume that his salary will come out of an increase in my taxes.

Our Mayor thinks Mr. Spore is underpaid, so I guess when the council gave raises to a handful of people back in July they must of been underpaid also. Rod Ingram, Franklin Hickman, Cindy Curtis,etc.(some of those who's salaries was bumped up)

We the people need to vote these council members out one by one. This is partly our fault for electing these individuals. The only person I see worthy of my vote is Bill DeSteph who basically laughed at this raise. The council are the people who vote on these individuals getting their raises, let's ban together and replace them.

There was a time when I was proud to tell people I am a City employee those days are sadly gone. Our City Manager now wants us to help him decide how to cut our salaries-what a JOKE!!!!

Bring back Meyera at least she has integirty!!!

Isn't that nice? I bet he is getting it from not giving the city employees pay raises for 3 years and looking to charge people for garbage pick up or raise taxes

It is absolutely ridiculous that he would negotiate such a big salary for himself on the same day that he's asking city employees for ideas to cut costs! Here's a big DUH! Cut the costs of the administration!!!! A 20% pay cut for the higher ups would save tons of money and jobs!

I would recoomend that all City employees go to the next Council meeting and tell them how they feel about paying one individual this much money with free benefits when they are supposed to make cuts which may result in wage reductions and potential layoffs. High paid execs are what has caused a lot of the problems this country is now experiencing. Sometimes people need to realize that money is not the most important thing in life and in these times, it's time to step down off the throne and give to the employees who need it most. In my opinion, City employees are the worker bees that make Va Beach successful, not one individual person. So, reward the employees for making this City successful, not the City Manager. Where are the priorities of City Council at anyway? There are a lot of good execs out of jobs right now and this is the perfect time to open it up for interviews to see what's out there and chances are you will find a great City Manager that will accept less than $219K plus free bens. Please remember this the next time you vote for your Va Beach council members. Thanks for doing the employees wrong City Council!

Since the economy is so bad and many people are having problems making ends meet and keeping their jobs, it is hard to believe that Mr. Spore should be allowed to have such a substantial salary while many others are suffering from the effects of excessive government spending. Additionally, the current situation requires government agencies to be fiscally responsible since it 'US' the taxpayers paying for all this waste!! Got it ? You guys can not spend us out of this mess ! You will not get my vote in the future unless someone shows some courage to support the people rather than special interest groups and their own person interests ! Got it ?

You've got to be kidding me!!! I've busted my butt for this city for the last ten years and haven't seen a raise in three. I and my fellow brothers and sisters in brown (you do the mental gymnastics to figure out where I work) put our families on the back burner to work crappy hours with society's rejects on a daily basis and for what??? To keep this community safe!! And all of that for a salary that is just high enough that we don't qualify for food stamps or WIC so we can keep our families fed. So imagine my suprise when I read this article.....Jim Spore has been our city manager for way too long- he doesn't do anything that the department heads and the city council couldn't do between them. For Mayor Sessoms to say that this man is underpaid just shows how dramatically out of touch he is with the average citizen of our fair city. I agree with everybody that has posted here, we need to get these fat cats off of our city council as soon as possible and elect a few people who actually understand how hard it is to provide for a family!!!!

Somebody needs to call Oama's pay Czar. He will fix it.

If a salary cut is adopted it is my opinion that the higher salaried employees whether appointed or those that achieved their position via promotions should take a larger percentage reduction.

He has been in office toooo long. He does not deserve a raise until the economy improves. In the meantime, if he does not like it he can hit the road. There are 100's of people who would love to have his job and could do a far much better job. We need to clean house of all of the fat cats at city hall who take their jobs for granted with their hands out for more.

A manager's job is much more intense that a legislator. It doesn't seem like it should be but it is.

Legislators are political. Business executives have to have the knowledge and training. They are the ones that really perform duties.

I am not endorsing the VA BCH manager. I am just making a generalized comment to consider.

This salary, "free" benenfits and car allowance are paid by the employees that he supervises. Come to think of it, those employees are the ones that are not getting raises, dealing with the reduced health benefits that are costing more, not to mention increased city taxes. That... sure... seems... fair... to... me!!!

Oh, those city employees who lost their jobs who now have no income are still paying for the City Manager's raise and perks through their tax dollars.

I am relocating to Virginia Beach next year from Detroit, a devastated city that has seen 30+ years of corruption and crime. The VA Beach city manager deserves the money he gets if he does his job ethically and has the city's best interest at heart.

This guy is a bum. I have sent correspondence to him that have never been answered. The streets in Virginia Beach are littered and dirty. Whenever help is needed from his office they turn their head. Get rid of this political hack.
Fritz Brothers, a Virginia Beach taxpayer that gets nothing in return.

Pig money,robbing taxpayers of their hard earned money. If you look
at the responsibility of area city managers and compare their salaries with the salaries and responsiblity of Admirals and Generals in the military, you can see the mamagers are grossly over paid.