D.C. Newcomer : Top Gallegly Aide Earns Top Dollar

When a Capitol Hill newspaper printed the names of the highest-paid staffers in the House of Representatives recently, Mike Sedell, the top aide to freshman Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), was among them.

Sedell is a newcomer to Washington, so it was surprising that his name was on the list. He is one of 26 administrative assistants who in 1987 received the maximum $72,500 salary allowed by law. Of the 26, he is the only one who is not a Capitol Hill veteran.

Sedell went directly from being deputy city manager of Simi Valley to helping set up and run Gallegly’s congressional operation last year. Moreover, he received a salary increase of at least $20,696, or 40%, when he advanced from local to federal government.

“Mike covers both Washington and California and maintains a home on both ends,” Gallegly said. “I’ve yet to meet any other person here I would trade Mike for, relative to his ability.”

31 Trips Home

Records filed with the House clerk show that Sedell returned to the district, where his family lives, 31 times in 1987--at a public cost of $10,054. In contrast, the 1987 travel budget for the staff of Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) was $3,723.

Gallegly said Sedell’s value is enhanced by their rapport and by Sedell’s knowledge of the 21st Congressional District, developed during 14 years in Simi Valley government. Gallegly was mayor of Simi Valley before winning a congressional seat in 1986.

The average 1987 salary for administrative assistants with a year’s experience in the House was $50,900, according to a survey of 226 members conducted by the Congressional Management Foundation, a private consulting firm that works with members of Congress. Overall, the average salary was $55,140.

The foundation defined administrative assistant as “the top staff person responsible for overall office functions, supervision of projects, district and Hill politics and personnel.”

Cites Responsibility

Asked about his status among the best-paid House staffers, Sedell said few of his colleagues who maintain they oversee both their Washington and district offices shoulder as much responsibility for the home-front operation as he.

“Very few actually do the hands-on administration and day-to-day oversight of both ends,” he said, adding that he works at least six days a week and many evenings. He receives generally high marks from those familiar with his work.

Sedell, 37, received a large pay increase when he joined Gallegly. The salary range for his Simi Valley job was $43,164 to $51,804 in 1986, the last year he held the post, said Robert Heitzman, Simi Valley deputy city manager. Sedell’s exact salary for that job is not public, Heitzman said.

Sedell said the size of his raise for the federal post is misleading because he received more generous benefits, such as a car allowance and health and retirement programs, from Simi Valley. He called his total compensation now “roughly equivalent” but said the cost of maintaining a condominium in Virginia, as well as his Thousand Oaks home, means that he actually suffers a net loss.

Staff of 16

Sedell, who has a master’s degree in public administration from USC, oversees a staff of 16 in Gallegly’s Capitol Hill office and constituent offices in Thousand Oaks and Chatsworth. Gallegly’s district includes eastern Ventura County and parts of the northern and western San Fernando Valley.

House members have broad discretion over about $600,000 they receive for staff salaries, travel and office rents and equipment. To discourage patronage abuses, lawmakers are not allowed to hire more than four part-time and 18 full-time employees. The $72,500 salary cap applies to aides for individual lawmakers; members of Congress receive $89,500.

Despite Sedell’s salary and the cost of his travel to and from the district, Gallegly returned about $50,000 in unspent office funds to the U.S. Treasury last year, Sedell said.

Sedell’s pay level, published in the weekly Roll Call newspaper, is impressive under any circumstances for a freshman staffer. But more congressional aides may be receiving the maximum salary, or close to it, than the 26 who were named, congressional aides say.

Some aides receive additional pay through committees on which their bosses serve, thus obscuring their total remuneration. Other House members may set their administrative assistant’s salary just below the $72,500 ceiling--to avoid the annual Roll Call list.