Annual Sunshine List was released March 31
It’s that time of year again when taxpayers get a glimpse of who are some of the highest-paid public sector employees in the province.
Since passage of the Public Salary Disclosure Act by the Progressive Conservative government under Premier Mike Harris in 1996, public sector employees earning salaries of $100,000 or more are required to make public, their pre-tax salaries (and taxable benefits received) made in the previous calendar year.
In Niagara-on-the-Lake, 28 names made the cut on what is more often referred to as the province’s Sunshine List, headed up by former chief administrative officer Marnie Cluckie, who was paid a salary of $203,300.93 plus $7,306.45 in taxable benefits.
Cluckie departed the town for Hamilton in January after serving as the town’s top bureaucrat since 2020.
Cluckie was followed on the list by former director of operations Romolo “Rome” D’Angelo, who earned $167,237.24, plus $6,714.04 in taxable benefits.
Also of note, Cathy Simpson, who was recently relieved of her duties as chief executive officer and chief librarian by the NOTL library board, also made the list with a salary of $130,720.91, plus $1,299.24 in taxable benefits.
Simpson was fired after an op-ed she wrote for The Lake Report to mark Freedom to Read Week, in which she quoted principles espoused by the U.S.-based Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR). The group has been accused of promoting far-right beliefs in its campaign against diversity and inclusion programs.
Following is a list of town employees who made this year’s list (taxable benefits in parentheses):
x-Marnie Cluckie, chief administrative officer, $203,300.93 ($7,306.45)
x-Romolo D’Angelo, director of operations, $167,237.24 ($6,714.04)
Kyle Freeborn, director of corporate services/treasurer, $148,070 ($6,732.23)
Jay Plato, fire chief, $146,626.21 ($1,520.11)
Kirsten McCauley, director of community and development services, $136,634.05 ($6,614.47)
Kevin Turcotte, manager of parks and recreation, $135,630.49 ($1,329.53)
x-Richard Wilson, manager of planning, $133,302.09 ($1,329.53)
Darren Trostenko, deputy fire chief, $132,476.29 ($1,329.53)
Frederick Cervantes, manager of information technology, $131,319.26 ($1,329.53)
Sarah Stevens, manager of human resources, $130,977.50 ($1,327.37)
x-Cathy Simpson, NOTL Library CEO and chief librarian, $130,720.91 ($1,299.24)
Walter Klassen, chief building official, manager of building services, $128,165.18 ($1,319.14)
Lauren Kruitbosch, manager of customer experience and communications, $126,663.93 ($1,680.99)
Darren MacKenzie, manager of public works, $126,409.65 ($1,302.25)
Nicolas Alaimo, manager of finance, $124,623.60 ($1,239.03)
Daniel Maksenuk, supervisor of recreation, $118,221.19 ($897.40)
Victoria Steele, strategy and government relations officer, $118,172.74 ($1,101.78)
John Boyd Hopkins, supervisor of parks, $114,251.26 ($1,149.40)
Michael Komljenovic, supervisor of engineering, $113,846.54 ($1,149.40)
David Voogt, cemetery and ground specialist, $112,925.95 ($1,045.48)
Darrin Wills, engineering technologist, drinking water quality management standard, acting supervisor of environmental services, $108,906.48 ($983.13)
Gregg Stewart, lead hand of water/wastewater, $106,723.06 ($978.98)
Garry Doerksen, lead hand of facilities, $105,138.58 ($921.56)
Casey Sharpe, supervisor of roads, $104,288.60 ($1,079.91)
Shaunna Arenburg, deputy clerk and acting clerk , $104,010.11 ($1,108.65)
Raymond Hunter, lead hand of roads, $102,251.41 ($921.56)
Brett Ruck, supervisor of environmental services, $101,250.01 ($957.11)
Richard Nauta, heavy equipment operator, $100,722.36 ($770.82)
Across the province, Ontario Power Generation president and CEO Kenneth Hartwick topped the list with a salary of $1,925,372 plus $7,539.84 in taxable benefits.
In Niagara, Niagara Health chief of staff /executive vice-president medical affairs Johan Viljoen, was paid a salary of $587,406.15 with $12,722.12 in taxable benefits.
Other notables across Niagara include:
Lynn Guerreiro, Niagara Health president and CEO, $533,688.10 ($16,332.72)
x-Bryan MacCulloch, former Niagara Regional Police chief, $356,231.36 ($39,416.55)
Lesely Rigg, president and vice-chancellor, Brock University, $330,033.13 ($37,457.21)
Sean Kennedy, Niagara College president, $302,072.31 ($4,281.01)
Ron Tripp, Niagara Region chief administrative officer, $279,299.80 ($11,256.43)
Warren Hoshizaki, District School Board of Niagara director of education, $278,230.76
Camillo Cipriano, Niagara Catholic District School Board director of education, $232,238.46 ($10,300.24)
Jim Bradley, Niagara Region chair, $136,178.82 ($20,379.48)
David Adames, Niagara Parks chief executive officer, $203,203.79 ($568.75)
x- denotes no longer in position
