In Yukon, Mayor Reveals Police, Fire Pay Amounts

By Jerry Bohnen, NewsRadio 1000 KTOK ~ A city council runoff race in Yukon this week showed how Mayor Bob Bradway, a supporter of councilman John Tipps, can play hardball politics.

In a Yukon Review newspaper ad, the mayor revealed a list of top union firefighters and police officers and their high slaries.

He used the ad to attack Tipps' opponent, businessman Ken Smith, in claiming Smith had promised Yukon's union employees an 8% pay raise.

Mayor Bradway named names and revealed how the firefighters and police are pulling down big money.

Never mind those stories about small-town public safety officers being poorly paid. His advertisement showed fireman Richard King is pulling down $103,000 in his 2010 gross salary while longtime fireman Curtis D. Ogle makes $102,834 a year. Fireman Robert Nuckols is paid $95,836 a year and another firefighter, Floyd C. Sisk, is listed at $92,647.

Then there are the police officers. The top union officer listed in Bradway's newspaper ad is Michae Merry who makes $96,937, while Gary Knight is paid $94,416 and Mitchell Hoskins pulls down $94,953 a year.

The lowest paid union police officer in Yukon is Jeff Avers who makes about $59,000. The lowest paid union firefighter is Michael Samples at $59,413.68.

In his paid ad, mayor Bradway said the gross pay "does not include the additional average of 45% in the benefits paid by the city taxpayers for each employee for insurance,retirement, paid leave, etc." 

And he noted the fire fighters work an average of less than 100 days per year.

In response, Smith used a full-page ad under the headline 'LIES in the name of Politics are still LIES!' He denied ever making a promise to the union firefighters and police to get them a pay raise. Smith accused Mayor Bradway of 'trying to deceive the citizens of Yukon' and he offered to 'gladly submit a polygraph test to prove that I am being truthful'.

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