Des Plaines finance director also named assistant city manager

Des Plaines' finance director is taking on the additional role of assistant city manager, and will become the second-highest paid employee on the city payroll.

Dorothy Wisniewski, the finance director since March 2009, will get a salary bump from $125,013 to $151,525 for the additional responsibility - but her promotion also saves the city the cost of hiring another administrator.

Wisniewski has lately been working on projects beyond the scope of finance, including the city's strategic plan, said City Manager Mike Bartholomew. He added the promotion is about "capitalizing on the talents of people in an organization."

At $151,525, only Bartholomew, with a salary of $156,805, is paid more.

The city has been without an assistant city manager since 2010. The position was left vacant when Jason Slowinski was promoted from assistant to full city manager.

The economy in 2010 dictated not filling the job, Bartholomew added.

The city council approved Wisniewski's promotion 6-1.

First Ward Alderman Patty Haugeberg, the lone alderman to vote no, said the jobs should remain separate.

Wisniewski is "worth her weight in gold," Haugeberg said, but she added it might be time to hire a full-time assistant manager.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with our director of finance, who has done an excellent job and gone above and beyond the last couple of years," said Haugeberg.

She added that Wisniewski and the other department heads who went without pay increases during the recession are deserving of higher salaries.

Bartholomew, meanwhile, said the jobs could be split in the future. He said most towns in the Northwest suburbs now have assistant city managers.

Wisniewski was hired by the city in 2007 to work in the finance department. She previously worked as a senior auditor for KPMG and as a senior accountant for Parkway Bank & Trust Co.