Windsor's highest paid city employee last year was only on the job for 3 months

Windsor's former chief administrative officer Jason Reynar was the top paid city employee in 2022, despite being dismissed from the role three months into the year.

Reynar made $279,131.55, along with $13,407.88 in taxable benefits, according to the annual public sector salary disclosure for those who made $100,000 or more. It's also known as the Sunshine List.

CBC News has reached out to the city for comment. A spokesperson said "the city doesn't comment on personal matters of identifiable individuals."

Reynar declined comment.

Reynar's dismissal took effect on April 1, 2022, a year after he was hired in the role.

The city has released little information regarding the reason for his departure. A memo to city employees stated that council "opted to move in a different direction."

During an in-camera meeting on March 31, seven members of city council voted to remove Reynar from the city's top administrative position.

Councillors Kieran McKenzie, Fabio Costante and former councillors Chris Holt and Rino Bortolin voted against the motion, according to documents summarizing the in-camera meeting.

Retired former CAO Onorio Colucci has been serving as Windsor's acting CAO.

Provincial and municipal public institutions are required to publicly disclose anyone who made more than $100,000 annually. The deadline to do that is March 31.

The city released the salary disclosure last Friday. It gave the caveat that "in many cases the amounts include such one-time payment items as acting pay, overtime, retroactive payments, adjustments required by pay equity legislation, and/or settlements that do not form part of the normal ongoing base salary of employees."

13 city employees made more than $200K

Including Reynar, there are 13 city of Windsor employees who earned more than $200,000 last year.

They include six Windsor police employees, five members of the city's corporate leadership team and the CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel.

The second highest paid person on the City of Windsor list also was not in the position for most of the year.

Former Windsor police chief Pam Mizuno abruptly announced her retirement in the middle of a five-year contract on March 22, 2022, which took effect nine days later. In a goodbye email obtained by CBC News at the time, Mizuno said her decision stemmed from a desire to spend more time with her family.

It's unclear why she collected a salary of $266,536.34 and taxable benefits of $4,143.84 last year, despite retiring in March.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who's also chair of the police board, says he won't discuss Mizuno's retirement agreement.

"It's about an identifiable individual, so I can't talk about the matter," said Dilkens during a media scrum last week.

The City of Windsor also released a list for the water and hydro utility ENWIN.

Six executives made more than $200,000, with CEO Helga Reidel the top earner with a salary $310,166 in 2022.