Russell Trustees Give Road Supt. $18.7K Increase

March 11, 2026 by Emma MacNiven

Russell Township Trustees recently approved a $18,720 salary increase for Road Superintendent Giovanni Maltese, a move intended to bring his pay in line with comparable positions in neighboring communities.

Trustees approved the raise Feb. 19 after determining Maltese, who was hired last May, had been working at a salary they believe was below market rate.

“From what I read last year, the board got Giovanni for a song and we had an opportunity to correct that,” Russell Township Trustee Amy Heutmaker said in a March 6 interview, adding she does not speak for the board as a whole.

According to township records, Maltese began June 1, 2025, at a rate of $85,280 per year. Trustees increased his salary to $104,000 effective March 1.

“What is the most important feature on a car? ‘Tires.’ What do those come in contact with? ‘The roads.’ So … the most important safety feature we have here that we take care of as a township, are our roads,” Heutmaker added.

Trustee Kristina Port said the decision was based on both a compensation review and Maltese’s experience.

Her rationale was informed by feedback from business management consulting firm Clemans Nelson, of Lima, as well as Maltese’s 26 years of experience working with roads, she said.

“We had surveyed the neighboring communities or people that had similar job titles in the community, like Bainbridge or Chagrin Falls. So, we had a list of what the salaries were with respect to what was comparable in the area and he was underpaid,” Port said March 9.

Road superintendents in nearby municipalities are paid slightly more than $100,000, Heutmaker added.

“When you’re 20% underpaid from your foreman and 20% underpaid from the neighboring communities and you were brought in 20% under from those neighboring communities, that can build resentment and we corrected that,” she said.

It’s important for the township to retain employees who do good work for the township, Heutmaker said, adding Maltese has saved the township thousands of dollars.

“I think retaining our high performing employees is often the most cost effective decision local government can make,” she said. “Turnover is disastrous in key leadership roles and it’s disruptive and expensive when other government agencies in Geauga County are seeing very heavy turnover, low morale in their departments. I think it’s a wise decision for us to invest in our top performers.”