A list of salaries; Mark Schantz is back with the AG; news is coming; and no crap for Hawk coaches
A bunch of stuff that isn’t earthshaking but is kind of interesting — though, as a guy once told Skinny, “you tell me the story, I’ll tell you if it’s interesting.”
So here’s the news:
Look for two stories to break before the election. Larry Scalise, the lawyer whom Attorney General Tom Miller in May chose as “special prosecutor” to look into those contributions to the Chet Culver campaign from thwarted Fort Dodge casino backers, is expected to report back shortly. Culver and his campaign will be cleared, says a guy who swears he knows what he’s talking about (and who thinks that’s why the news will come out before the election), but some casino-linked lawyers might not be. None of those lawyers is from Des Moines.
And look for the state to recommend moving several agencies downtown, where there are more than a million square feet of empty offices. Four buildings are in the running, we’re told — Ruan II, which had been home to Wellmark; the Des Moines Building, once a grand and beautiful place that has fallen into disrepair; the Aviva building, which is losing its tenant to the suburbs; and the old J.C. Penney building, where Wellmark also has had operations. But the Penney building probably will end up as the home of the county’s judges, and the Aviva building — better known to many as the Central Life Assurance Building, up Fifth Avenue toward the Hy-Vee events center — is a bit off the beaten path. One guy is betting on Ruan II — he says (gasp!) politics will play a part. But the likely move of state agencies downtown — instead of into the old Des Moines General Hospital on Capitol Hill — coupled with EMC’s purchase of the Hub Tower, should revive the area around Sixth and Locust. That was once the center of downtown, but it has deteriorated while downtown areas in all directions have prospered. ...
New Exclusive! (But only because no one seems to have noticed for the past 10 months.) Tom Miller has quietly rehired his long-time pal Mark Schantz. Schantz, a Rhodes Scholar who was solicitor general of the state from 1979 to 1982 and went on to become a law professor and general counsel at the University of Iowa, is once again solicitor general, though on a part-time basis. No press release was issued, and no news story appeared in The Des Moines Register, but he was named to the post on Jan. 4, according to the AG’s office. He continues to live in Iowa City, where he now is an adjunct professor at the college of law. ...
Old Exclusives. News that two hotels will be built on the south side of Martin Luther King Parkway downtown — as reported in the daily newspaper last week — wasn’t news to Cityview readers. It was reported here weeks ago....And news that the Ames Tribune has been sold -- which presumably will be in the daily newspaper this week — won’t be news to Cityview readers, either. The fact that the paper was for sale was reported here a few weeks ago, surprising the paper’s staff, among others. But the unnamed buyer has people — including the staff — guessing. Rumors are swirling, with two being talked about most. The first is Davenport-based Lee Enterprises, which owns or has interest in more than 50 daily newspapers and 300 specialty publications in 23 states. The other is one of the former owners, Michael Gartner. A pretty good source says it isn’t Lee; a really good source says it isn’t Gartner — even though a staffer told Cityview this week that Gartner was seen in Ames the other day. (He was also seen in Detroit.) Another potential buyer is out, too, Skinny hears. Mark Hamilton, owner of a newspaper and a press operation in Iowa Falls that the Tribune recently signed a five-year printing deal just weeks before listing the properties, isn’t interested, we’re told. That leaves, among others, CNHI, an Alabama-based chain that owns the papers in Clinton, Oskaloosa and Osceola. ...
More news: The board of Des Moines University has narrowed down to three the names of candidates to succeed Terry Branstad as president, and it’s likely to disclose them this week. We’re told the three include an insider, a local person, and an out-of-towner. The board hopes to have a new president named by around Thanksgiving, we’re told. ...
Most charities and universities now have submitted their “Form 990s” to the IRS, and new rules require disclosure of lots more information than in the past. Among the findings: Life isn’t bad being a college president in the city. According to the 990s, Drake President David Maxwell earned $434,203 in pay and nontaxable benefits in 2008, Des Moines University President Branstad earned $357,323, and Grand View University president Kent Henning earned $294,412. (The forms with 2009 information aren’t due yet.)
And life isn’t bad if you’re the chief financial officer of one of the schools, either. Vicki Payseur at Drake earned $223,186, Mark Peiffer at DMU earned $154,225, but no figures were available for Grand View. It’s almost as good if you’re a provost. Ron Troyer at Drake pulled down $223,016 in pay and nontaxable benefits in 2008, Dr. Kendall Reed of DMU made $417,914, and Mary Elizabeth Stivers at Grand View made $75,058 for six months’ work. Four of the top 10 earners at Drake were at the law school. Professor and former dean David Walker made $229,099. Professors Neil Hamilton made $219,295, Mark Kende $218,542 and James Adams $199,048.
Still, if you want to get rich, you might consider a career at Meredith. According to a proxy sent out the other day, Steve Lacy, the Meredith chief executive, pulled down $7,114,701 in salary bonus, stock, incentives and pension increase in the latest year. That’s more than the combined salaries of the top 10 people at Drake and DMU and the top five at Grand View. ...
But the question is: How much should you be paid if part of your job entails putting up with crap? Apparently, more than a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. Iowa defensive coach Norm Parker is hospitalized, and reporters were asking head coach Kirk Ferentz (who will make more than $4 million this year and is the highest paid state employee in Iowa) who would be filling in for Parker. “Ferentz was guarded” in responding, according to the Register’s Andrew Logue.
Why? “The first time we give up a touchdown pass or a long run [people will ask] ‘Who’s calling that defense?’ — all that kind of stuff,” Ferentz told reporters. “I’ll tell you, none of the guys are getting paid enough to put up with that crap.”
The top 12 assistants to Ferentz average about $190,000 a year. CV
