One South Florida government official makes more than the president of the United States.
It's Charles Dodge, the city manager of sleepy and suburban Pembroke Pines. Doing the math, Dodge personally makes a grand total of at least a half a million dollars a year, which is more than the city managers of Fort Lauderdale and Miami combined.
That despite the fact that Pembroke Pines has a much smaller tax base than both those cities.
I caught up with Dodge last week and asked him how he justifies all that money.
"I don't justify my salary," he answered. "It was a contract just as any vendor who would come to the city and the commission approves it."
Technically, Dodge doesn't work for the city; he works for his own firm, Charles F. Dodge LLC, which consists of two people: Dodge and his assistant and partner, Martin Gayeski.
In 2008, the city supplies the office and staff -- and health insurance for both men as well. And it approved a $755,000 contract with Dodge's firm in 2008.
On top of that both Dodge and Gayeski are collecting city pensions of $75,000 and $100,000 respectively. They retired before coming back to the city as Charles F. Dodge LLC. Add it all together and the pair were pulling in a total of $930,000.
"I had worked for the city and I retired," Dodge told me. "I offered and I made a proposal that I work this form of a relationship and they did approve it in 2003."
Jay Schwartz, chairman of the city's Economic Development Board and a commission candidate, calls the contract "egregious" and says it should be renegotiated.
"I consider it double-dipping," he said.
Before his retirement, Dodge was making a more reasonable $160,000.
Dodge said that he pays his assistant, Gayeski, $228,000 -- which is more than many city managers in largers cities make.
When asked how much he made from the contract, Dodge said he didn't know.
"Of that amount after the ordinary expenses, I have to calculate," he said. "I don't have that number right handy."
"You don't know how much you make?" I asked him.
"I know how much I make, I don't know how much the net amount is because I have expenses," he said.
Both men have their health insurance paid for by the city. I asked Dodge what expenses he paid and he said he pays for his own car, gasoline, liability insurance, social security match, and gasoline.
When Dodge first signed his private contract with the city, it wasn't even allowed under the charter, which demanded that the manager be an employee of the city. In 2006, under Dodge, the charter was changed to allow an "entity" to serve in the position.
Some officials, including Commissioner Iris Siple, now want to change the charter back to its original form.
"I think this position is too important to be outsourced, period," said Pines Charter Review Committee Member Francois Leconte, who added that he would "love" to see Dodge's salary come in line with other city managers.
Dodge's contract has survived city layoffs and budget cuts, though he did take a $20,000 reduction of his fee in 2009.
How is Dodge performing in the job that is paying him so much? It's hard to tell. "The fact is that this city manager has yet to have a performance appraisal under this contract," said Schwartz.