One can’t help but think that Coral Gables City Manager Pat Salerno knew he was on his way 
out and that that is why he made the change in his retirement benefits that not only increased the city’s contribution almost threefold, but gave it to him in one lump sum.
Salerno, who abruptly resigned his position earlier this month, not only gets a $210,000 payout — adding up his severance and unpaid annual leave. He also gets to keep the $74,100 the city deposited into his retirement accounts at the beginning of the year.
The city manager does not use the public employee pension system. He has his own retirement — actually two accounts, a 401a and a 457 plan and the $74,100 figure is for both combined. Only the three appointed positions — the city manager, the city clerk and the city attorney — can opt out of the city employee’s retirement plans and go solo.
Salerno used to get $28,500 a year from the city, paid to him every two weeks a
long with his paycheck. But he changed that when he got commissioners to agree to an increase in the city’s contribution from 15% of his $190,000 salary to 39%, which is the maximum allowed by state and may indicate that he could have been bold enough to ask for more.
How on Earth did commissioners approve this — and unanimously, mind you — in the midst of cutting employee positions, freezing salaries and increasing their pension contributions? While employees reportedly lose their homes and retired police officers are forced to live without cost of living increases? Is this the so-called pension reform they seek?
And what did Salerno know in November when he proposed this change?
Pat Salerno upped his retirement benefit before he left added by Ladra on
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this is the kind of crap that we, the general public, latch onto and when the labor force comes for more we send them packing. give more to the worker bees and lees to the upper levels.
If that is not criminal conduct and gross negligence I don’t know what it is. I said that man should be prosecuted by the City for falsifying and misrepresenting information to the public and for taking advantage of his position to raise his salary and his pension and that of his cronies while all other employees were losing their homes, had to cut on groceries and medical insurance to survive. To me that sounds more like fraud.
And now we say: “what commissioners were thinking back then???”, Give me a break!!! What commissioners are thinking now!!! when they voted to keep Carmen Olazabal for his replacement and to keep the entire little group of scums that worked by Salerno’s side to defraud the system and misrepresent information to the public. They are his axis of evil and the City will regret tremendously to have them in there.
Same kind of scheme both the Treasurer and the Finance Director did over at the City of Miami. When they knew that salaries would be cut or reduced they started to cash in their vacation time before an imposed moratorium prevented employees to do so.
Ladra- will you be barking up a tree to look into the Human Resource Director, Finance Director and Treasurer? Most employees are fearful of them because they carried Salerno’s pale of water.
and those of us that are families of retired officers and have had no COLA in years, can’t afford groceries the last week of the month. Because I guess, according to Salerno, there was no increase in the cost of living. Now this vile asswipe leaves with more money than we can imagine, after 26 years service to the city on the streets carrying a gun to protect and serve.