Bob Buckhorn is rich (well, more rich than all of us in the newsroom, at least). That's according to a new Business Journals analysis of the salaries of more than 50 big-city mayors.
Months away from terming-out as Tampa's head honcho, Buckhorn rakes in a base salary of $160,742, says the report, and the figure puts him ahead of Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis (who makes $35,000) and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (who makes $150,000).
Ol' Buckeroo's base pay, however, is significantly less than that of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry (who makes $180,332) and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (who makes $190,655).
And while he can only dream of raking in what San Francisco's mayor, London Breed, does (that's $300,997), Buckhorn is probably pretty happy about not being Allen Jones, the mayor of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who makes $8,400.
UPDATE: It's important to note that different mayors have different kinds of political power and administrative authority assigned to them in their municipal charter. Buckhorn is considered a "strong mayor," which is a reference to a mayor who is elected by voters and one who works, in tandem with their administration, pretty much around the clock on a myriad of issues and duties including preparing and administering budgets, hiring/firing staff and so much more. It's part of why you'll see Buckhorn on the street in the middle of the night supporting police officers during certain situations. Most "strong" mayors are in the mayor-council form of government, and are directly elected by citizens to that office, while most "weak" mayors are mayors in a council-manager form, and are elected from within the city council. The cities of Miami and Clearwater are set to vote on whether they want a "strong mayor," and St. Petersburg — where Mayor Rick Kriseman made a 2017 salary of $180,895 — has operated under a "strong-mayor" form of government since 1993.
Buckhorn's salary is also much higher than the median household income around these parts. U.S. Census Bureau data from last year puts Tampa Bay's median household income at $51,115, meaning half of our households have less income and half have more income. That stat earns the region the designation of being the poorest of the nation's 25 largest metro areas, according to a 2017 story in the Tampa Bay Times.
