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Two separate Kansas City Star columnists (11/15) have turned into full-blown public relations advocates for Kansas City's Wayne Cauthen in his bid for a pay raise. On 11/16 even the editorial board joined the chorus to lobby for a pay raise for Cauthen. Columnist Steve Penn, in a column titled "Cauthen Deserves Every Dime," says after taking a tour of the city with Cauthen that the city should "quickly grant Cauthen the raise and three-year contract he deserves." According to Penn, Cauthen's base pay would jump immediately from $174,400 to $190,000 to more than $200,000 in the next two years. In the Tuesday "Star Business Weekly" Kevin Collison continued to stump for Cauthen by interviewing developers who complimented his work. Collison also added his own thoughts, "The salary he's requesting isn't out of the line...Cauthen is a hot commodity...If Kansas City doesn't assure him...it wouldn't be surprised if he snapped up by another city that wants his mojo." According to Collison Cauthen's salary would "jump immediately to $190,000 under the terms of the proposed contract. It would climb to $205,000 in the second year and $215,000 in the third year." The editorial board jumped on the Cauthen bandwagon by saying the offer should be "tweaked" in that it should run until sometime in 2007 instead of the proposed 2008. However, the editorial said the new contract for bonuses could boost his pay by "an extra $70,000 a year," noting he can get an extra $10,000 per year for "maintaining a diverse city staff." The Star felt the diverse bonus should be a basic expectation of the job.
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