By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A pair of doctors, Chatham-Kent’s two top cops, health care officials and the municipality’s former head of engineering who only worked three months in 2022, all made the list of Chatham-Kent’s top 10 public sector wage earners for 2023.
Dubbed the ‘Sunshine List’, the government mandates that a list of all public sector employees paid by tax dollars must be disclosed and posted for public viewing in the name of transparency. The practice, which many say is outdated, began in 1996.
At the top of this year’s list is Chatham-Kent Community Health Centre’s Dr. Vishal Chawla who earned $407,966. Second and third spots went to Dr. David Colby, head of Chatham-Kent Public Health and Chatham-Kent Health Alliance CEO and president Lori Marshall. The two earned $285,825 and $285,000, respectively.
Fourth on the list is Chatham-Kent’s former head of engineering who pocketed $274,058. Thomas Kelly had been picked to lead municipal administration as the chief administrative officer, but ended up leaving the municipality’s just over a year ago.
CK police Chief Gary Conn was in fifth spot earning $273,310, followed by Don Shropshire, former CAO for Chatham-Kent. Shropshire had formerly retired from his position but ended up staying on to assist with the aftermath of the Wheatley explosion. He took home $268,551 for 2022.
Dr. April Rietdyk, the municipality’s general manager of community human services and lead for public health, was next in line earning $233,648, followed by Deputy Police Chief Kirk Earley who took home $225,793 for the year.
Another CKCHC physician was in eighth spot. Dr. Lalit Chawla earned $225,793. Last on the top 10 list is Cathy Hoffman, Chatham-Kent’s director of human resources and organizational development, who took home $211,985.
All told the number of municipal staffers who earned more than $100,000 went up by 24 to 326, compared to the previous year. According to Hoffman, eight of those names are directly attributed to overtime necessitated by the Wheatley explosion.
“They are a combination of emergency workers and public works employees,” Hoffman told The Voice.
In addition, Hoffman pointed out the Sunshine List started 27 years ago and has never been adjusted to reflect Consumer Price Index increases. In today’s dollars a $100,000 annual wage is equivalent to $168,773 annually.
“If that were the case, we would only have 20 people on the list for the municipality,” Hoffman said.
When it comes to former infrastructure engineering head Kelly earning such a high wage, Hoffman said, the cash outlay was based on a contractual agreement with the former employee. The details are private.
As for doctors making the list, officials say the playing field isn’t level. The province mandates that doctors who are employed by an organization, such as the Chatham-Kent Community Health Centre, must report but other physicians – even though they’re paid with tax payers’ dollars – aren’t required to report their earnings.
CKCHC executive director Sherri Saunders said if all health-care specialists and physicians were required to report their earnings the number would be much larger.
According to Saunders the way the Sunshine List is reported doesn’t reflect the “full context” of physicians across Chatham-Kent.
