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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The salary for the city&#8217;s new health educator will be lower than the amount listed in the state grant that funds the hire, Mayor Tony George said Friday.</p><p>James Hayward Jr. will be paid 80 percent of the salary listed in the city&#8217;s job posting and not what was contained in the state Department of Health grant awarded last August.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s only $26,000,&#8221; George said, correcting the $27,000 figure he initially cited and clarifying the $33,750 salary contained in the grant.</p><p>Furthermore, the salary in the grant &#8220;was estimated at the time of the application,&#8221; said Henry Radulski, director of the city&#8217;s Department of Health, in a email Wednesday that outlined Hayward&#8217;s duties. The grant that was applied for 13 months ago also covered fringe benefits calculated at a flat rate of 42 percent of the salary, Radulski said. </p><p>When Hayward starts later this month, the city will pay into his pension with Local 1310, the mayor said. Hayward has a pension from when he worked as a city firefighter, according to George.</p><p>Because Hayward is a new hire and addition to Public Service Employees Local 1310 of the Laborers&#8217; International Union of North America, he will start at 80 percent of the salary in accordance with the union contract, the mayor said.</p><p>The job was advertised with a pay range of $32,562 to $36,562. New hires are subject to the probationary pay scale that starts at 80 percent in the first year, 90 percent in the second and 100 percent in the third. The $622,523 block grant for preventive health and health services covers the three-year period from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a newcomer, period,&#8221; the mayor added.</p><p>But Hayward, 66, had worked in City Hall more than 10 years ago under former Mayor Tom McGroarty &#8212; not as a union member, however. His prior job with the Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department was as a union firefighter and ended due to an injury.</p><p>Those periods in his background did not raise as many questions about his hiring as his legal career did.</p><p>Hayward went to law school after leaving the fire department and had a private practice after he was let go when Tom Leighton was elected mayor in 2003.</p><p>The state Office of Disciplinary Counsel, acting on a number of misconduct complaints from clients, suspended Hayward from practicing law for a total of five years in 2011. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania suspended him for five years in 2010.</p><p>The mayor said Hayward was hired for his qualifications and administrative and legal experience. Hayward will be dealing with the public and will not say anything that will get the city in trouble, the mayor said.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s got knowledge all over,&#8221; said George.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hayward  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_Hayward.cropped-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hayward  </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre health educator’s pay clarified, lower than amount listed in state grant