Nice to see Matt Davis' byline again. I am surprised, however, that the Mercury didn't use former Merc journalist Amy Ruiz for this piece. 'Cause she has the expertise in unqualified alt-weekly journalists getting sweet public jobs that they have no experience in (raise included!).

So... Tara Bowen-Biggs has been "on the Job" working for various County Commissioners since 2005, and a guy fresh to the place makes 13k more a year more than her? Doesn't the county have some sort of equal pay rule? How much did Bowen-Biggs make in the first year at that position?
Dave Austin, Cogen's Communications Director hired Stern, but somehow Stern doesn't work for Cogen? This is really confusing... can you ask who he DOES work for?
"non-department department", is that like NCAA "Double Secret Probation"?
Great to have you back Matt, even if just for one story
Patrick

Will this be in People?

What Number Six said.

You can smell the bitter gumbo from here. That's like sour grapes for Brits that move to New Orleans.

What "I keep the kid..." said. I totally agree with Matt Davis, here - this smells like some real bullshit. Austin's not some entrepreneur spending his own money to hire a buddy - those are public funds he's throwing around. $13k more than the experienced professional, for someone who's never done the job before and didn't have to interview? That's pure cronyism, and Austin should go to jail for fraud.

I just wrote the City Auditor's Department at mult.auditor@multco.us, asking for a fraud investigation.

I'd like to start some kind of online petition...but I notice there are only 9 other commenters on here...

There's no news organization in this city, alt-weekly or otherwise, that can throw stones when it comes to employees getting plum gov't jobs.