Craig Harris

The Republic | azcentral.com

Gov. Jan Brewer this year gave 22 staffers bonuses of up to %2410%2C000 each.

Brewer%27s office declined The Republic%27s request to discuss the bonuses with the governor.

Two Arizona Corporation Commission members also gave bonuses of roughly 10 percent to their aides.

Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican who governed as a fiscal conservative, doled out $160,000 in bonuses to 22 staff members this year despite a state budget crunch, records obtained Tuesday by The Arizona Republic show.

About half the money was distributed shortly before Christmas, only weeks before Brewer leaves office. The largest bonuses of $10,000 apiece went to 10 employees, all but two of whom are paid at least $125,000 annually, placing them among the top 10 percent of all U.S. wage earners.

Brewer was unavailable for comment. Records indicate the bonuses were paid to retain select staff members for the governor's final year in office. More than two dozen other key staff members were not given retention bonuses.

DJ Quinlan, executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party, said the bonuses show Brewer to be out of touch in light of the state's fiscal condition. The state has a budget deficit of a half-billion dollars this year and faces a $1 billion deficit next fiscal year.

"Supposedly the state is broke, but she has money to hand out to her workers," Quinlan said.

Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, who often has criticized Brewer's policies, predicted most Arizonans would find the bonuses "unacceptable." He said the governor should be ashamed of herself.

"You are talking about people who make three to four times the average Arizona income," Campbell said.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Arizona per capita income is roughly $25,000.

The Republic obtained the bonus information under the Arizona Public Records Law. It also sought information on raises given during the past three years to the 40 highest-paid employees in the Governor's Office and its Strategic Planning and Budgeting Office.

Similar record requests were sent to elected officials at six other public offices. Those records show:

•Brewer from 2012 to 2014 increased the pay for Chief of Staff Scott Smith by nearly 9.4 percent, to $175,000. He also was awarded bonuses totaling $10,000.

•Brewer from 2012 to 2014 increased the pay for Deputy Chief of Staff Kathy Peckardt by nearly 18 percent, to $165,000. Peckardt also received $10,000 in bonus pay this year and became interim director of the Department of Administration in October.

•Corporation Commissioner Brenda Burns, a Republican, gave special assistant Thomas Galvin a $10,000 bonus this year. Galvin is paid $99,501 annually. Burns did not respond to an interview request.

•Corporation Commissioner Susan Bitter Smith, a Republican, gave special assistant Laurie Woodall a $10,500 bonus this year. Woodall is paid $94,500 annually. Bitter Smith did not respond to an interview request.

•The Corporation Commission gave Utilities Division Director Steven Olea a 21.5 percent raise, to $150,000, last year in order to retain his services.

"The commissioners provided bonuses to members of their staff due to exemplary performance and extra workload. These bonuses were within the commissioners' annual budgets and within state employment guidelines," said Rebecca Wilder, a commission spokeswoman.

The records also show that Mine Inspector Joseph Hart, a Republican, had one of the most frugal offices, with no staff bonuses and modest raises.

The Republic earlier this month reported that at least 169 state employees received raises in the past year without proper Department of Administration approval, and that some of the pay increases topped 40 percent.

Most of the unapproved raises were for employees in the Arizona Attorney General's Office and the Department of Education.

Those raises were issued between July 2013 and July 2014. Many of the increases went to special agents in the Attorney General's Office and to information-technology specialists in various departments.

Personnel reform pushed by Brewer and passed by the Legislature in 2012 requires Department of Administration approval for most raises.

Andrew Wilder, Brewer's spokesman and Rebecca Wilder's husband, said the Governor's Office received approval from ADOA for what he described as "retention payments." Andrew Wilder, who is paid $135,000 annually, also received $10,000 in bonuses this year.

The Public Safety Personnel Retirement System on Tuesday released public records showing ADOA approved raises last month for three employees whose previous raises were rescinded this summer because PSPRS didn't receive ADOA approval.

Those three employees received raises of 20, 35 and 42 percent, respectively. All raises were retroactive to the time they were suspended, said Christian Palmer, a PSPRS spokesman.

Republic reporter Alia Beard Rau contributed to this article.

Brewer bonuses

Gov. Jan Brewer this year awarded retention bonuses of $10,000 apiece to 10 staff members as an incentive for them to remain with her throughout her last year in office. Below are those who received the bonuses and their annual salaries. Others received bonuses of $2,000 to $6,000 .

Chief of Staff Scott Smith: $175,000.

Deputy Chief of Staff Kathy Peckardt: $165,000.

Budget Director John Arnold: $147,000.

General Counsel Joe Sciarrotta Jr.: $143,325.

Policy Director Michael Hunter: $139,125.

Communications Director Andrew Wilder: $135,000.

Deputy Policy Director Donald Hughes: $125,000.

Federal Relations Director Ryan Serote: $125,000.

Legislative Affairs Director Lorna Romero: $88,000.

Special Assistant to the Governor Susan Myers: $85,775.