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Chief of Staff Stephen Conway.

Last year, Mayor Lyda Krewson quietly increased the salary paid to her top deputy — Chief of Staff Stephen Conway was hired on with a 7.7 percent pay hike over his predecessor.Conway has been chief of staff for just shy of a year. Budget documents show that his position had been budgeted at $151,814 for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2019.But Conway says he has been paid $163,540 since he took the chief of staff job in the "first or second week of July."Questioned about the salary increase for the position in Tuesday's Ways & Means Committee hearing, Conway said that he has two degrees, while his predecessor only had one. Former Chief of Staff Tim O'Connell was an attorney; Conway is both an accountant and an attorney.For years, Conway was the 8th ward alderman. He gave up that job up two years ago when Krewson appointed him city assessor, then left the job less than a year later to serve as chief of staff.Conway's salary as assessor was $126,334.