Website Reveals Another Piece of the ‘Who Is Liz’ Puzzle
One of the side effects of the “Who is Liz?” capers — the nasty e-mails from the executive assistant to Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) to a lobbyist trying to set up a meeting for a client — was to establish Legistorm as the Washington power player of last week.
Did you know that the salaries of all Capitol Hill staff are publicly disclosed? When I worked on Capitol Hill (from 1998 until 2002), we would pore over three-inch books giving official disclosure of the salaries (and expenses) of House of Representatives personnel.
It was quite a task to research the member office, figure out the person’s title, then do the math. Also, the math wasn’t exact, because most congressmen give bonuses to the staff at the end of the fiscal year (Oct. 31), since any money the office does not use has to be returned to the taxpayers.
So to determine your colleague’s salary, you had to get the fourth-quarter salaries book, then the previous three, and add the figures together. (I can’t remember the name of these books or the office that puts them out. Can one of my friends on the Hill tell me?)
Anyway, the Capitol Hill salary-comparison competition became a different game when this awesome website Legistorm was launched in 2006. It took the three-inch tomes and made the salary information electronic. Just one click on the search engine, and bam, you know what everyone makes on the Hill.
When a friend sent me the e-mail chain between the lobbyist and McDermott’s staffer, Elizabeth Becton, the first thing I did was look Becton up on Legistorm to see who else she had worked for and her salary. I was surprised to find that she has worked for Republicans in the past: such cross-pollination on the Hill is extremely rare.
Then I looked at her salary for 2008 — $87,000 as an executive assistant. That’s quite a salary by Hill standards. It’s also quite a lot of money for someone who tells polite lobbyists that she 1) prefers to be contacted on e-mail, 2) does not want to be called without advance notice and 3) finds it to be burdensome to do her job, i.e. setting up meetings. In one e-mail to the lobbyist (whose name we are withholding), she said:
From: Becton, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:20 PM
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
[Lobbyist]:
If I wanted you to call me by any other name, I would have offered that to you….
As for your meeting request, who is the point of contact for this meeting? If it’s not you, then I need to know who because it’s very time-consuming to deal with a lot of people for one meeting.
Thanks,
Elizabeth Becton
Executive Assistant/Office Manager
Office of Congressman Jim McDermott
She makes at least $87,000 a year and can’t set a meeting or take a call? I would like to remind Elizabeth/Liz that American taxpayers are responsible for her salary, so we at least deserve polite treatment in correspondence.
Elizabeth Becton’s listing on Legistorm has been inundated with responses this week. Many readers left comments on the site that are better than anything I could say myself. Below are my favorites:
by Jeny …Liz, I’m a secretary with 28 years experience, from the Arlington area, I run circles around others in Outlook Calendar, and I don’t care if someone doesn’t spell my name properly when they come calling for an appointment with my boss. Unfortunately, I was laid off in April and new jobs aren’t so easy to find these days (as you are probably finding out yourself). So…where do I send my resume? When McDermott cans you, Liz, I want your job, salary and outrageous health benefits. Best, Jeny
by Vinny, Vincent, Vince, Vinman, Vincente…Yo Betsy, I hope everything’s going okay. Liz, do you mind setting up a meeting between me & jimbo? Would that be a problem Betty? I hope not Lizzy because I really need to talk to him. If today is a bad time Lizbo, then I might settle for tomorrow. Well Beth, I hope to hear back soon because my schedule’s really tight.
And my favorite comment of all:
by Christian Bale… Liz, I’d like to thank you for making me appear calm, rational, and a pleasure to work with by comparison.
Read more Elizabeth/Liz e-mails and comments from Emily on Twitter.
