The Fastest-Growing Department in Superior? The Mayor’s Office—And It Still Only Has The Same Two People

SoupNutz Exclusive: When the Mayors Office Outgrows Every Other Department in City Hall


In a town where potholes have names and departments scrape by on duct tape and optimism, one office soared above the rest like a gold-plated drone of government bloat:
Mayor Jim Paine’s Office.

Between 2018 and 2023, while most city departments begged for scraps, the Mayor’s Office quietly became the fastest-growing operation in Superior—in percentage terms, at least.
And it did it all with the efficiency of a magic trick.

No new staff. No added services. Just a 42% raise for the same two people.
Now that’s what I call administrative weight gain.

Bar chart illustrating the growth of Mayor Jim Paine's office budget from 2018 to 2023.
Bar chart showing the increase in Mayor Jim Paine’s office budget over just his first five years.

 


The Numbers That Should Embarrass Somebody

YearMayor’s Office Budget% Increase
2018$287,400
2023$408,200+42%

📈 + $120,800
👤👤 Still just Jim & Rebecca
💁‍♂️ Somehow more expensive than entire divisions growing their workforce


🏁 The Mayoral Sprint: Who Got Left in the Dust?

🛠️ Public Works (Streets Division):

  • Budget Growth: +18%

  • Handles roads, plows snow, fills literal craters

  • Didn’t even grow as fast as Rebecca’s Microsoft Teams login

🚒 Fire Department:

  • Budget Growth: ~23%

  • Responds to emergencies, keeps people alive

  • Still trailing behind the “Facebook Post Generator Department” upstairs

🧹 Parks & Rec:

  • Budget Growth: Low to moderate

  • Mows the grass, manages parks, staffs summer events

  • Definitely didn’t get a 42% glow-up

🖥️ IT Department:

  • Growth: Modest… until the 2027 tax hike hits for “software”

  • Manages systems for the whole city

  • Not growing as fast as an office that mostly writes emails and takes photos of ribbon cuttings


The Disappearing Act: More Money, Same Output

Here’s the thing: most departments grow because they’re doing more.
More services, more people, more trucks, more emergencies, more actual results.

But the Mayor’s Office?
Still just the same two humans. Still just a desk, a newsletter, and a camera phone.

So what’s all the extra money going to?

  • Rebranding Mondays?

  • Email signature upgrades?

  • 42% in Taxpayer Raises?

  • Taxpayer Funded Civil Rights Defense?

  • Caffeine-fueled budget optimism?

  • Emotional support PowerPoints?

No one knows.
All we know is: they outgrew departments that shovel snow, put out fires, and run your utilities—with nothing new to show for it.


🛑 This Isn’t a Joke—It’s a Red Flag

When the Mayors two-person office becomes the fastest-growing department in your entire city, you don’t celebrate.
You investigate.

Because at this point, the only thing growing faster than the Mayor’s Office budget…/
is the mayor’s office explanation list.


Mic Drop Moment:

Superior’s hardest-working departments are barely treading water.
Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office rode a 42% budget jet ski increase into 2024 like it’s a taxpayer-sponsored vacation.

Two people.
Biggest raises in town.
And your taxes are going up for software next year ? really ?

Wait until you see 2024 and 2025.

Welcome to Superior, where government efficiency is just a line in the Monday Memo.

Sources : State Filings 2018-2023 

#CityofSuperiorSoftwareGrift

#SuperiorTaxesGoingUpAgain

⚠️ Disclaimer:

All data derived from publicly available Superior city budgets and departmental comparisons (2018–2023). Percentages calculated from official line-item documents. We love city workers and public servants. This satire roasts executive raises far exceeding inflation rates, and causing your taxes to go up year after year. Not the folks holding this place together with overworked dignity.

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