READ PART 1 OF THIS PROJECT: HERE

FROM STAFF REPORTS

While women hold down seven of the top-10 paying jobs in Iredell County government, men still have a firm grip on the majority of the most lucrative jobs in municipal government throughout the county.

An analysis of public payroll data provided by Iredell County, City of Statesville, Town of Mooresville and Town of Troutman shows areas where women have made strides in local government administration in recent years — and where they have not:

♦ In Iredell County government, the top-four best-paying positions — and seven of the top 10 — are now held by women. Among the top 20 positions, women occupy 11.

♦ In the Town of Mooresville, women hold four of the top-10 most lucrative jobs and nine of the top 20.

♦ In the City of Statesville, only one of the 10 best-paying positions and four of the top 20 are held by women.

♦ In the Town of Troutman, which has a much smaller population and much smaller administrative staff, two of the top-five highest paying positions are occupied by women. The town manager position is currently vacant.

For this report, we requested all payroll data for employees earning $50,000 and above, as of November 1, from the county and the three largest municipalities.

Several factors are involved in each individual salary, including pay scale, years of service, cost of living adjustments, and merit raises.

Top Earners

Here’s a list of the top-earners in local government:

Iredell County

1. Beth Jones, county manager, $194,361
2. Susan Robertson, deputy county manager, $150,818
3. Jane Hinson, health director, $130,791
4. Cynthia Smith, social services director, $124,474
5. Darren Campbell, sheriff, $120,170
6. Susan Johnson, public health director, $115,150
7. Sonya Rogers, physician extender II, $114,873
8. Frank Furches Jr., tax collector, $114,831
9. Lynn Niblock, development services director, $110,086
10. Debra Cheek, finance director, $108,218
11. Sandra Gregory, human resources director, $103,387
12. Joseph Pierce, assistant county manager, $102,382
13. Melia Miller, tax assessor, $100,616
14. David Lambert, solid waste director, $100,616
15. Clyde Freeman, environmental health director, $95,383
16. Sheila Cooke, chief information officer, $95,371
17. Angela Williams, social work program administrator, $95,082
18. Christopher Main, social services attorney, $93,148
19. Matthew Todd, planning director, $91,161
20. Colin Barnes, network system administrator, $91,961

Town of Mooresville

1. Randall Hemann, town manager, $185,000
2. Ryan Rase, assistant town manager, $143,429
3. Ronald Campurciani, police chief, $135,000
4. Keli Greer, director of human resources, $121,022
5. Deborah Hockett, chief financial officer, $120,022
6. Sharon Crawford, town attorney, $120,000
7. James Deaton, fire chief, $119,153
8. John Finan, public works director, $116,929
9. Jeffrey Brotherton, technology and innovation director, $112,381
10. Pamela Reidy, parks & rec director, $105,206
11. Allison Kraft, public utilities director, $104,818
12. Damon Williams, police chief, $101,188
13. Michael Lacount, deputy fire chief, $101,008
14. Jonathan Young, engineering services director, $98,562
15. Marian Lytle, library director, $97,534
16. Benjamin Hess, assistant fire chief, $91,295
17. Jamie Barrier, fire battalion chief, $90,904
18. Kim Sellers, public information officer, $88,619
19. Kelly Robinson, fire battalion chief, $87,939
20. Sarah Muller, deputy finance director, $87,861

City of Statesville 

1. Ronald Smith, city manager, $185,000
2. Ralph Staley, deputy city manager, $138,600
3. David Addison, police chief, $127,976
4. Aaron Harrell, public works admin, $116,928
5. John MacLaga, electric utilities, $115,329
6. David Currier, planning director, $112,695
7. Derek Slocum, public admin, $100,868
8. Christopher Tucker, finance, $99,750
9. Devon Shelton, electric utilities, $96,416
10. William Vaughan, water purification, $93,999
11. Mildred Minor, personnel, $92,850
12. Jeffrey Taylor, water maintenance, $91,875
13. Nikki Gregory-Pruett, IT, $88,966
14. Spencer Lee, fire chief, $88,268
15. Travis Campbell, electric utilities, $88,200
16. Richard Griggs, recreation director, $82,195
17. John Ferguson, airport manager, $81,838
18. David Onley, assistant police chief, $81,204
19. Sherry Ashley, assistant planning director, $80,695
20. Willard Cornelius, police department, $78,053

Town of Troutman

1. Steve Shealy, finance director, $89,582
2. Tina Fleming, police chief, $78,000 (effective December 23, 2019)
3. Darrin Payne, police lieutenant, $69,493
4. George Berger, director of planning, $69,249
5. Kim Davis, town clerk, $66,706