By HENRY FREDERICKNEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- This may be going against the grain, but Michelle Coats, chosen by the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority to lead the tourism agency, deserves more than the $65,000 the governing board decided Tuesday to pay her.
Most people would say that's more than enough, and they would be right on the surface. But this is no ordinary job. When asked during an interview last week what she would like to be paid, she said the mid-range -- roughly $80,000.
When you consider that Jeffrey Hentz was hired earlier this year as director of the Halifax Advertising Authority's operation in Daytona Beach with a base salary of $135,000, what Coats was offered is far less enticing for someone expected to put in the kind of hours the job demands.
Yes, Daytona is a bigger chunk of real estate, but not with this disparity. If her salary remains as is, Hentz will be making $70,000 more than Coats.
This begs the question: Is her salary too low or is his too high? The board also cut the number of personal days initially on the table from 28 a year plus nine holidays to 14 days with the holidays left alone.
Board Chairman Dave Kosmas led that measure saying, he doesn't get that many days off and he doubted the average worker out there gets that. Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce President Samantha Bishop told the board that in the business world, it's not unusual to start with two weeks annually and then add more based on longevity.
It's admirable that Kosmas would want to start near the bottom of the pay range, especially after the disaster of the previous director, Nicole Carni, who was fired after less than a year on the job.
Kosmas, more than any of the other board members should understand and appreciate the hours that go into a job like this. Carni was hired at $110,000, but the county intervened and her salary was reduced to $85,000 and again to $71,755.
The county sued Carni for more than $40,000 she paid herself, which over a year's time would have provided her in excess of $200,000. Coats says she is eager to start the job, though she has avoided discussing the salary issue before she sits down with the board in the next week or two.
Originally working part-tme with the county in public relations, Coats became full time over the last eight months as part of a county transition team. She had asked that her hours be reduced several years ago because her daughter was much younger. Coats lives in New Smyrna Beach.
Her husband, Michael Coats, is a battalion fire chief with the city, who makes roughly $100,000. Still, what her husband makes has nothing to do with her pay scale.
Originally working part-tme with the county in public relations, Michelle Coats became full time over the last eight months as part of a county transition team. She had asked that her hours be reduced several years ago because her daughter was much younger.
Coats lives in New Smyrna Beach. Her husband, Michael Coats, is a battalion fire chief with the city, who makes roughly $100,000. Still, what her husband makes has nothing to do with her pay scale.
Palmer Wilson, the lone SVAA board member to vote against her, favored the other finalist, Tim Hamby, a marketing communications strategist from Ponte Vedra. But he recently bought a house and the majority of the board members were concerned the commute would be too long.