[StBernard] LRA, FEMA Leaders Pull In Six-Figure Salaries

[Westley Annis]

LRA, FEMA Leaders Pull In Six-Figure Salaries
TheNewOrleansChannel.com
NEW ORLEANS - Almost two years after Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans
area, while thousands wait for their neighborhoods to be rebuilt, the people
coordinating the recovery effort have been cashing in. 
Name			Position			Annual salary
Andy Kopplin	LRA Executive Director	$134,000

Marc Roy		FEMA New Orleans 
			Office Chief of Staff	$136,000

Edward Troy		FEMA New Orleans 
			Office Finance Director	$136,000

James Stark		FEMA New Orleans 
			Office Director		$125,000

Ray Nagin		New Orleans Mayor		$120,000

Alesia Wilkins	LRA General Counsel	$107,515

Jill Igert		FEMA New Orleans 
			Office In-House Atty.	$104,000

Desiree Honore	LRA CFO			$103,500

Haley Barbour	Mississippi Governor	$101,000

The Louisiana Recovery Authority's highest-paid employee is Executive
Director Andy Kopplin, who brings home more than $134,000 a year. Kopplin is
the face of the LRA and runs the entire agency. 

Board members told NewsChannel 6 that he makes all the major decisions for
the agency. 

Kopplin's salary is more than Gov. Kathleen Blanco's, and he also earns more
than Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Barbour
is paid $101,000 a year, and Nagin makes $120,000. 


Two the LRA staff members also make six-figure salaries. Chief Financial
Officer Desiree Honore makes $103,500 a year, and Alesia Wilkins, the LRA's
general counsel and top attorney, makes $107,515 a year. 

"Some of these salaries are a bit out of line -- probably higher than what
people in the private sector are making," state Rep. Steve Scalise said.
"You've got to pay a competitive salary for people to do good work, but at
the same time, when you see that some of these salaries reach into the six
figures, it's not really competitive for the type of work being done by some
of these people." 

James Stark, the director of the FEMA office in New Orleans, is paid
$125,000 a year. Stark coordinates all the recovery and federal rebuilding
in Louisiana. 

But even though Stark is the boss, he's not the highest paid member at
FEMA's New Orleans office. His chief of staff, Marc Roy, is pulling in
$136,000 each year. 

FEMA's finance director in the New Orleans office also is paid $136,000. The
New Orleans office's in-house attorney, Jill Igert, makes $104,000 a year. 

LRA board member David Voelker said competitive salaries are needed to
attract the top talent to help in the recovery effort. Voelker and other LRA
board members are not paid -- they volunteer their services. 

Voelker said LRA Executive Director Andy Kopplin "could be making $500,000
to $1 million a year in the private sector."