Ms. Bayless had planned on retiring from the 522-bed, public-owned system at the end of 2012, but the Maricopa board extended her contract until the end of 2013 to search for a replacement, according to the report. The board then decided in a 3-2 vote to raise her annual salary by $125,000, or 33 percent, bringing Ms. Bayless’ compensation to $500,000. Ms. Bayless said she neither requested nor expected a raise, according to the report.
The Arizona Republic editorial board wrote an op-ed, saying Ms. Bayless has done a “splendid job” to turn around the system, but it said that “no explanation alters the fact that a 33 percent raise awarded just before an executive retires is not a fair use of taxpayer dollars.”
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