There's mounting criticism over what Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle is paying the people he hired himself. The latest example is the salary given to a secretary turned office manager.

Channel Six News has learned the mayor is paying his secretary $68,000. Former Mayor Fahey's made around $47,000. The woman had been a city council staffer making considerably less.

Earlier in the week, Mayor Suttle gave a huge increase to his new planning director. The former mayor paid his planning director $144,000. Suttle's planning director will make $185,000.

Fahey's chief-of-staff made $93,000.
Suttle's -- $125,000.

Fahey's communications director made $50,000 a year. Suttle's is making $71,000.

With these four hires Mayor Suttle is paying $115,000 more than his predecessor did.

Reporter: "At a time you're asking the unions for a pay freeze, does it seem hypocritical to be giving raises to the mayor's staff in comparison to what the predecessor handed out?"

Mayor Suttle's Communications Director Ron Gerard says, "You have to compare apples to apples. You have to look at different administrations as different businesses you can't compare positions in one business to another."

The mayor has a $1.1-million budget for his staff.

The big increases are coming from a pool of money -- $217,000 -- former Mayor Fahey had used on part-timers.

Suttle has eliminated part-time positions. He's asked his staff to lock in at these salaries for all four years.

When he first took office, Mayor Suttle discussed freezing the wages of police officers, firefighters and other city employees as a way to save millions. The 2010 budget has an $11-million shortfall.

As for the secretary making $20,000 more than her predecessor, the mayor made her his office manager to justify the pay increase -- insisting a job with more responsibility equals greater benefits.

Reporter: "Do you see where the public in the big picture...a planning director making $40,000 more than the other guy...a chief of staff making $30,000...a secretary that is now an office manager making more than $20,000 -- it doesn't look good?"

Communications Director Gerard: "We're not in a mindset to just staff it with bodies. We're in the mindset of putting people in who are truly qualified for the job."

Mayor Suttle believes that by hiring the most qualified people -- at these salaries -- government will become more efficient in the long run and thus save money.

He'll unveil his budget on July 21.