County pay detailed
Nurses making big bucks on county payroll

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — In a time when premium bottled water still costs more than premium gasoline, it probably makes sense that in the county government, a nurse makes more than an attorney.

“I have no problem with it,” said McKinley County Attorney Doug Decker, “if she deserves it.”

And apparently Judy Valle, a registered nurse at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center, deserves every dollar she makes. In fact, county officials feel they got a bargain.

In our quasi-annual review of county salaries — County Manager Tom Trujillo comes out on top, making $93,586. Coming in second is Valle at $85,745 and Decker comes in fourth at $83,862.

Just below Decker in fifth place is Richard Holden at $74,389, a licensed practical nurse at the adult detention facility.

Donna Goodrich, head of the adult detention center — her salary is also among the 10 highest in the county — said the county is saving a lot of money by having Valle and Holden. Before they came, the county contracted out the health service for the prisoners, and that cost the county more than $700,000 a year.

“Nurses are in short supply,” she said and jails have to pay a premium. “They could probably get more elsewhere.”

Another interesting facet of the salary review is that four of the top 10 are deputies in the sheriff’s department, and a majority of the top 20 are all working in the sheriff’s department.

Today, full-time deputies, according to the salary schedule, make from $31,458 annually to more than $65,000, with most making in the $40s and $50s.

Just a few years ago, this would not have been the case, but in recent years salaries at the sheriff’s department have been going up, said Decker, in an effort to keep officers from “jumping ship” and going to the city or the state.

Decker said the department still sees some of its officers go on to greener pastures, but more are staying with the department until they reach retirement.

Salaries for county employees on the whole, he said, are also getting better.

Five years ago, county officials were saying that salaries in McKinley County were generally below normal, but after doing some salary comparison and bringing some employees up, Decker said that salaries nowadays for McKinley County employees compare favorably with other counties — such as Chavez County — with a similar population and makeup.