Big raise could mean $1 million more in retirement for Lodi unified superintendent

A pay raise granted this week to Lodi Unified's interim superintendent means an extra $40,000 in retirement benefits each year for the rest of his life — perhaps adding up to $1 million if he lives another 25 years.

Lodi Unified board members voted 5-1 Tuesday night to approve a $45,000 increase for Len Casanega, who will serve as superintendent through July 3.

That pay raise for a relatively brief time will mean a dramatic jump in Casanega's lifetime retirement benefits.

For instance, Casanega stands to make approximately $169,248 a year in retirement, according to the California State Teachers' Retirement System's Retirement Benefit Calculator.

Sherry Reser, spokeswoman for CalSTRS, said the calculator is an "unofficial estimate."

That's $39,780 more than he would have made without this week's pay boost.

So if Casenaga lives 25 years after retiring, his stint as interim supe would be worth an extra $1 million in retirement pay.

In fact, his retirement, enhanced by the recent boost, will be $28,000 more a year than Casanega ever made working as assistant superintendent of personnel at Lodi Unified.

Last year, Casanega made $141,019, according to information provided by Lodi Unified.

"This is the type of situation that angers taxpayers, because taxpayers are the ones that ultimately pay the bill," said David Kline, spokesman for the California Taxpayers' Association.

Trustee Jeff Thompson said the board considered Casanega's leadership qualities and not his retirement before giving him a raise.

"Did the board consider that? No," Thompson said.

However, Trustee Peter Johnson said the board did consider how Casanega's raise would affect his retirement package.

"Yeah, the board did consider that," Johnson said.

Casanega said he hasn't checked how much his current raise will affect his retirement benefits.

A few board members, including Richard Jones, have questioned whether or not the board followed the best course of action by hiring Casanega before finalizing his salary.

Casanega took over for former superintendent Bill Huyett on Feb. 4. The board voted to approve his salary Tuesday night.

"If it's a mistake, we made it," Trustee Richard Jones said. "That won't happen again. I guarantee it."

While Jones said he does stand behind the decision he made Tuesday night, he also has some reservations.

"I wasn't 100 percent like most times when I make a decision," Jones said.

Harvey Bills, the only board member to vote against Casanega's compensation package, said he was surprised that Casanega would request such a high salary in a time when the district will have to make major cuts.

"I think it's a shock to a lot of people," Bills said.

The district is estimating that it will need to trim approximately $8 million from next school year's budget.

Casanega maintains that he asked the board for a fair salary based on what other superintendents of similarly sized districts made.

Until he leaves, he will draw a salary that would equal $220,000 annually, or about $1,000 per day.

A comparison provided by Lodi Unified of similarly sized districts showed that on average the superintendents of those districts made more than $237,000.

"It was a request, not a demand," Casanega said.

Most of the retirement money would come from money made from investments managed by the state.

However 15 percent of that would come from the district and the state's general fund.

Casanega, himself, paid for 10 percent of it with contributions he's made over the course of his career.

When Lodi Police Captain David Main became the department's interim police chief recently he received a 5 percent pay raise. That raise would bring him to $129,905 in base salary, based on calculations made using information provided by the city of Lodi.

Casanega's pay increase amounted to a 32 percent increase.

Despite his large raise, some community members are saying that Casanega is the "ray of light" the district needs to see through these dark times of budget cuts.

Michelle Madrid, operations supervisor for Lodi Unified's transportation department and former president of Lodi's chapter of the California School Employee's Association, said she's looking forward to the next 103 days of Casanega's superintendency.

Although she doesn't know him personally, Madrid said, professionally, Casanega has never let her down.

"I believe he's worth every cent," Madrid said. "I believe he's worth more than he's getting."

Board members say that part of the reason they gave Casanega the job was his reputation for being an exceptional administrator.

The other part of that reason is that Casanega, unlike other internal interim candidates, like Associate Superintendent Odie Douglas, has no intention of applying for the superintendency permanently.

With nearly 30 superintendent positions open statewide, board members believe they'll receive more qualified applicants by appointing an interim who has no interest in applying for the job.

In addition, most board members agree that with budget cuts and the task of filling three administrative positions (superintendent, assistant superintendent of personnel and curriculum director) the board needs to be looking ahead rather than wondering who's taking care of the district.

"He has the monumental task of making sure the wheels don't fall off," Jones said.

Casanega said he was still at work at 10:40 p.m. on a recent week night when he had a conversation with his wife.

She asked, "Is this going to be what it's like?"

"And I said, 'Yeah,'" Casanega said.

"If they wanted to pay me less I would've done it," Casanega later said. "(But) I wouldn't have thought it was fair."

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.