It pays to be handy — if you’re in the right city at the right time, and you charge the right rate.

When his mother was alive, Brian Keith Schrier was her go-to handyman. “Even when I didn’t know how to do it, she had faith in me to figure it out,” he says. “I would learn how to do it. When I was young, I used to take everything apart and didn’t always get them back together. I enjoy figuring things out.”

He has worked in construction and owned a petition management company, which collected signatures for special interest groups to put issues on the ballot and, in 2014, Schrier, 45, found himself at a career crossroads. He signed up to work for TaskRabbit, the online marketplace that allows users to outsource small jobs to others that, along with other odd-job service apps such as Handy and Fiverr, partnered with Amazon Home Services earlier this month to offer handyman services.

Schrier, who lives in San Francisco, spoke to MarketWatch about how he can earn up to $14,000 a month doing odd jobs.

MarketWatch: How did you come to work as a handyman?

Schrier: I had a friend stay with me who had moved to San Francisco from Missouri and he picked up TaskRabbit for some side work, he’d come home and brag about it. He showed me all the jobs that he could pick from and talked about it until it was actually a bit of an annoyance.

MarketWatch: What do you charge?

Schrier: I charge $150 an hour. I used to do minor home repair and handyman things, but since my rate went up, mostly I do more of the specialized tasks that take a higher skill: Electrical plumbing, TV mounts and things like that. Some of the other categories like deliveries and IKEA furniture assembly, most of the people who do those charge cheaper rates, so I don’t really get picked for that anymore.

MarketWatch: What did you start out at?

Schrier: $20 to $25 an hour.

MarketWatch: Whoa! That’s quite a jump.

Schrier: I was working between 12 and 16 hours a day and I was getting way, way too much work. I didn’t know how to say no to that work. I started raising that rate to meet supply and demand. I just wanted to reduce my hours. I enjoyed fixing a problem from scratch rather than putting together IKEA furniture. It’s more important.

MarketWatch: Does it get complicated?

Schrier: Yes, if someone wants a chandelier hung but there isn’t an electrical socket. Sometimes you have to reroute the electrical wiring for that stuff.

MarketWatch: So how much are you making these days?

Schrier: I have a pretty major project in my life right now. Normally, I will work 20 to 25 hours a week. I’ve been working a bit more this month. I think I’m at about $14,000 this month.

MarketWatch: Did you say 14,000? Is that rubles or dollars?

Schrier: We have a way of checking on our app. It’s exactly $13,976 for 30 days.

MarketWatch: wow. That must have been a particularly big project. You are clearly busy. I recently had a tasker who earns about $3,000 a month, but he only charges $38 an hour and that’s in New York.

Schrier: They’ve given me a huge lift. I had to fix a door, sand and re-stain a banister and hang a chandelier.

Podcast: These blue-collar workers make $100,000 a year

MarketWatch: Yes, you really have to be careful, especially with expensive items like chandeliers. Does TaskRabbit pay you to do PR for them?

Schrier: No. TaskRabbit has done a lot for me and I’m more than happy to give back where I can. They’ve given me the freedom to work when I want to work, to take days off when I want, to pick and choose the jobs I want to do. I made a midlife career change that was really scary and it put me in a great place.

MarketWatch: Do you have children?

Schrier: I have three kids and they’re all grown, going to school and starting their own lives…

MarketWatch: Do people really pay $150 to mount a TV in San Francisco?

Schrier: At that rate they get peace of mind that I’m going to get it done right.

MarketWatch: How did you get so handy? And what’s the most common task?

Schrier: I’ve picked it up along the way. I grew up on my father’s ranch in Eastern Oregon. TV mounting is the most common task. I usually get picked for one of the most complicated mounts. Drill into their wall and make holes. I get picked a lot more for those.

MarketWatch: I am picturing a nice San Francisco townhouse and a Silicon Valley millionaire who can write complex computer codes, but doesn’t know how to use a hammer and a nail.

Schrier: The tech industry is moving into this city, starting off fresh. I do get a lot of younger clients. As far as male and female, I think it’s pretty even.

MarketWatch: Really?

Schrier: Well, I think it’s slightly more female.

MarketWatch: Has anyone ever hit on you or flirtted with you?

Schrier: I just had that experience a week ago. It wasn’t the client, it was the client’s neighbor. As soon as the client left, she told me how lonely she was. It was really awesome. All I did was bounce across the house with different tasks. So I didn’t engage in that conversation. Afterwards, it was really funny but at the time, it was more, ‘Oh, boy, lady.’ When the client came back, I told her in a lighthearted way. I didn’t want the client to feel like she had put me in a bad position.

MarketWatch: What’s the oddest job you’ve had?

Schrier: I got hired to fold T-shirts for $70 an hour. It really blew my mind that someone needed to do that. It was a startup that needed them done right away.

MarketWatch: Nice work, if you can get it.

Schrier: For some of these jobs that I do, the only other alternative is to hire a contractor. They’ll say, ‘I’ll hang that TV, but I’ll charge you for half a day’s labor.’ For me, I can hang a TV in less than an hour or access behind a bookshelf to get to a phone plug and it’s still cheaper than having a contractor. Many movers charge a four-hour minimum.

MarketWatch: Any challenging tasks?

Schrier: I will get a job when the client is really not in a good mood. That’s a little bit stressful. I’m kind of walking on egg shells. I’ve still got that job to do, but in the back of my mind I’m wondering if their world is dark like that, if that is going to spill over to me in my review.

MarketWatch: I still wouldn’t call $150 an hour cheap.

Schrier: Maybe people have gone through some bad experiences and they’re just not ready to roll the dice anymore. I get as much work as I want. With this amount of work, I could raise my rate, but at this point I really don’t want to. I’m not greedy. I’m going to keep it where it’s at.

MarketWatch: And now you have more business through Amazon AMZN, +1.49% .

Schrier: I have my first actual appearance for Amazon later today. The client’s RV has gotten some water damage. They want the roof of the RV stripped off and weather sealed and made strong enough so they can put some lawn chairs on that and hang out. The client’s out in Treasure Island.

MarketWatch: Treasure Island! That’s the perfect place to end.

(This interview was originally published in April 2015.)

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Green Bay Packers defensive backs coach and passing coordinator Jerry Gray is pleased with cornerback Eric Stokes’ performance so far and the rookie’s week 2 game should keep him moving on the field.

The Packers’ first-round pick, Stokes, played 44 snaps against the Detroit Lions, delivering two pass breakups and forcing a total of three imperfections.

“I think Eric is doing a really good job right now,” said Gray on Thursday. “He makes his pieces.”

Stokes only allowed one catch in his first two NFL games. He is also the top rated rookie cornerback on Pro Football Focus.

Gray said Stokes did an excellent job finding the ball in the air, especially breaking the fourth down pass in the end zone in the second half on Monday night. He believes that a young cornerback who is able to turn his head, find the ball in the air and not panic or grab the receiver is a confident cornerback.

“Making plays builds confidence, especially if you’re a rookie and have most of the balls coming your way,” said Gray.

Stokes was tight in cover and made a 4th and 1st throw against Quintez Cephus in the third quarter, which was an incompleteness and a major turning point in the Packers’ 35-17 win.

“That’ll justify him more games,” said Gray.

The Packers brought in Stokes as perimeter cornerback by bringing Kevin King and Jaire Alexander into the slot more against the Lions. Construction could continue on Sunday in San Francisco.

The performance wasn’t perfect. Stokes and King had coverage hiatus on the Lions ‘first touchdown pass, and the rookie wasn’t in a perfect position in Quarters coverage on the Lions’ second touchdown pass.

Gray said the Lions fooled Stokes’ eyes on Jared Goff’s touchdown pass to TJ Hockenson. With better discipline and more experience, the rookie would have fallen out of cover and had a chance of an interception.

“If you’re in the quarters, you should intercept the game,” said Gray.

Good, bad, and ugly from Packers’ Week 2 beating Lions

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It pays to be practical – when you’re in the right city at the right time and calculating the right price.

When his mother was still alive, Brian Keith Schrier was her handyman. “Even when I didn’t know how to do it, she trusted me to find out,” he says. “I would learn how to do it. When I was young I took everything apart and didn’t keep bringing them back together. I enjoy figuring things out. “

He’s worked in construction and owned a petition management firm that collected signatures for special interest groups to put issues on the ballot, and in 2014, 45-year-old Schrier was at a career crossroads. He signed up for TaskRabbit, the online marketplace that allows users to outsource small jobs to others who, along with other occasional service service apps like Handy and Fiverr, partnered with Amazon Home Services earlier this month to provide handyman services.

Schrier, who lives in San Francisco, spoke to MarketWatch about how he can make up to $ 14,000 a month doing odd jobs.

Market observation: How did you get to work as a craftsman?

Schrier: I had a friend with me who had moved to San Francisco from Missouri and picked up TaskRabbit to do some side work. He had come home and bragged about it. He showed me all the jobs he could choose from and talked about them until it was actually a bit annoying.

Market observation: What do you calculate?

Schrier: I charge $ 150 an hour. I used to do minor home repairs and handyman jobs, but as my rate has increased, I tend to do more of the specific jobs that require higher skill levels: electrical installations, TV mounts, and the like. Some of the other categories like supplies and IKEA furniture assembly, most of the people who do this are asking for cheaper prices so I don’t really get selected for that anymore.

Market observation: What did you start with?

Schrier: $ 20 to $ 25 an hour.

Market observation: Whoa! That’s quite a jump.

Schrier: I worked between 12 and 16 hours a day and got way, way too much work. I didn’t know how to say no to this work. I started increasing this rate to meet supply and demand. I just wanted to reduce my hours. I enjoyed fixing a problem from the ground up instead of putting IKEA furniture together. It is more important.

Market observation: Is it getting complicated?

Schrier: Yes, if someone wants to hang a chandelier but there is no power outlet. Sometimes you have to reroute the electrical wiring for this stuff.

Market observation: So how much are you earning these days?

Schrier: I have a pretty big project in my life right now. I usually work 20 to 25 hours a week. I’ve been working a little more this month. I think I’m at about $ 14,000 this month.

Market observation: Did you say 14,000? Is that a ruble or a dollar?

Schrier: We have a way to review our app. It’s exactly $ 13,976 for 30 days.

Market observation: Impressive. That must have been a particularly big project. You are clearly busy. I recently had a Tasker who makes about $ 3,000 a month, but he only charges $ 38 an hour and that’s in New York.

Schrier: You took me away. I had to fix a door, sand and repaint a railing and hang a chandelier.

Podcast: These workers make $ 100,000 a year

Market observation: Yes, you have to be really careful, especially with expensive items like chandeliers. Does TaskRabbit pay you to do PR for them?

Schrier: No. TaskRabbit has done a lot for me and I like to give back where I can. You have given me the freedom to work when I want to work, to take days off when I want, to choose the jobs I want to do. I made a career change in midlife that was really scary and put me in a great place.

Market observation: Do you have children?

Schrier: I have three children and they are all grown up, go to school and start their own lives …

Market observation: Do People Really Pay $ 150 to Install a TV in San Francisco?

Schrier: At this speed you have the certainty that I will do it right.

Market observation: How did you get so practical? And what is the most common task?

Schrier: I picked it up on the way. I grew up on my father’s ranch in eastern Oregon. TV assembly is the most common task. I am usually chosen for one of the most complicated mounts. Drill in your wall and make holes. I am selected a lot more for this one.

Market observation: I imagine a beautiful townhouse in San Francisco and a millionaire from Silicon Valley who can write complex computer code but doesn’t know how to use a hammer and nail.

Schrier: The tech industry is moving into this city and starting over. I get a lot of younger customers. As for men and women, I find it pretty balanced.

Market observation: Really?

Schrier: Well, I think it’s a bit more feminine.

Market observation: Has anyone ever hit you or flirted with you?

Schrier: I only had this experience a week ago. It wasn’t the customer, it was the customer’s neighbor. As soon as the client left, she told me how lonely she was. It was really awkward. I was just bouncing around the house with various chores. So I didn’t get involved in this conversation. After that it was really fun, but at the time it was more like, “Oh boy lady.” When the client came back, I told her lightly. I didn’t want the client to feel like I was in a bad position.

Market observation: What was the strangest job you had?

Schrier: I was hired to fold T-shirts for $ 70 an hour. I was really blown away that someone had to do this. It was a startup that had to be done right away.

Market observation: Nice job if you can get it.

Schrier: For some of these jobs that I do, the only other alternative is to hire a contractor. They’ll say, “I’m going to hang the TV, but I’m going to charge you half a day of work.” For me, I can hang a TV or reach behind a bookcase for a phone plug in less than an hour, and it’s still cheaper than a contractor. Many moving companies charge at least four hours.

Market observation: Any challenging tasks?

Schrier: I will get a job if the customer is really not in a good mood. It’s a bit stressful. I go on eggshells. I still have this job to do, but in the back of my mind I wonder if their world is that dark, if that will spill over to me in my review.

Market observation: I still wouldn’t call $ 150 an hour cheap.

Schrier: Maybe people have had bad experiences and are simply no longer ready to roll the dice. I get as much work as I want. With that amount of work, I could increase my rate, but at this point I really don’t want to. I’m not greedy, I’ll keep it where it is.

Market observation: And now you have more business on Amazon AMZN, + 0.80%.

Schrier: I have my first actual appearance for Amazon today. The customer’s motorhome has suffered water damage. They want the RV’s roof stripped and weatherproofed and made strong enough so that they can put a couple of garden chairs on top and hang them off. The customer is on Treasure Island.

Market observation: Treasure Island! This is the perfect place to end.

(This interview was originally published in April 2015.)

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Powerful unions in San Francisco represent 39,000 city workers and $ 5 billion in wages.

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The San Francisco Bay Area is home to wonders of the modern world like the Golden Gate Bridge and Silicon Valley, as well as powerful progressive politicians like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Governor Gavin Newsom, and U.S. Senator (and Vice President hopeful) Kamala Harris.

But the city is in trouble. Whenever we open the books, San Francisco is consistently among the worst tax and spending offenders.

In fact, the city’s $ 1.5 billion budget deficit doesn’t prevent 18,759 highly paid employees from bringing home salary packages worth $ 150,000 (or more) annually.

We found truck drivers loaded with $ 262,898. City painters earn $ 270,190; Firefighters earn $ 316,306; and plumbers who clean up $ 348,291 every year. A deputy sheriff made $ 574,595 last year – of which $ 315,896 in overtime.

On average, the city’s 44,526 workers received wages and benefits that cost taxpayers $ 131,335 each. Four in ten – 18,749 city workers – received a compensation package of more than $ 150,000 per year.

In addition to the basic salary, the salary package also includes retirement, health, overtime, pension and other benefits.

Mayor’s Office – San Francisco Mayor London Breed cost taxpayers $ 452,421 – the highest paid mayor in the country. Breed has a salary of $ 342,974 and additional performance perks of $ 109,447. Incredibly, there are thirty-one more people in their office with total salaries in excess of $ 200,000 per year.

Police and Sheriff Departments – The city’s 4,418 law enforcement staff cost taxpayers $ 831 million last year in compensation for an average cost of over $ 188,000 per person. The police are called “peace officers”.

Since San Francisco is both a city and a county, there is both a sheriff and a police department. Sheriff MPs run the prisons, enforce civil judgments and keep legal proceedings safe while police patrol the city.

Police Chief William Scott earned $ 434,613 ($ 338,482 salary and $ 96,131 in benefits). Four deputy chiefs (police and management) received between $ 346,528 and $ 445,539. Then there were 195 employees with salaries and perks greater than $ 300,000 each.

Matt Dorsey, the director of strategic communications, responded to our request for comment by saying that the recent reforms were costly to successfully implement.

Sheriff Paul Miyamoto made a total of $ 357,570. In total, the sheriff paid over $ 100,000 in overtime to fifty employees, including $ 315,896 in overtime to a deputy sheriff for a total of $ 574,595.

In response to our request for comment from Nancy Hayden Crowley, Director of Communications, the sheriff said, “My department continues to work on creative solutions to meet our minimum staffing requirements and the public safety challenges we all face on a budget.”

In total, the two departments employed 3,775 people – or about 8.5 out of ten employees – with comp packages that exceeded $ 100,000.

Most Popular Job Titles and What Public Employees Do in San Francisco.

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Fire Department – The fire brigade had two bosses last year. Outgoing boss Joanne Hayes-White retired with an annual pension of $ 311,560, and boss Jeanine Nicholson replaced her in May 2019.

Last year, Hayes-White received $ 386,727 and Nicholson received total compensation of $ 442,722. Cash settlement is not the whole story, however. The department maintains a two-bedroom landmark, valued at $ 2 million, as the chief’s residence.

A fire protection lieutenant earned $ 415,111 – more than double his base salary of $ 184,791, with a whopping overtime of $ 230,320. Fifteen employees received over $ 100,000 in overtime alone.

Just 389 of the 1,559 Fire employees did not bring a six-digit Comp package home with them last year.

Public works – Human litter cases on the streets of San Francisco rose to 31,000 in 2019 – an all-time high. The agency in charge of cleaning up the mess has a quarter of a billion dollars ($ 224 million) budget devoted to staff costs alone.

Public Works has 1,790 employees, including truck drivers ($ 218,495), arborists ($ 206,107), and general workers ($ 188,975). The team members of the self-proclaimed “Poop Patrol” cost taxpayers up to US $ 184,000 each.

San Francisco’s self-titled “Mr. Clean, ”said Mohammed Nuru, Public Works Director, best known for his failed efforts to keep feces and hypodermic needles out of the public eye.

In 2019, Nuru earned $ 380,120 total compensation, and his base salary alone rose to $ 65,000 over eight years. Apparently it wasn’t enough. In February 2020, the FBI arrested Nuru in an alleged porta potty scandal.

Human waste complaints reached an all-time high in 2019.

OpenTheBooks.com

Homeless Services and Supportive Housing – In 2016, the city added a new agency to help its homeless residents. As of 2019, the department had 148 employees, of whom 53 earned more than $ 100,000.

Director Jeff Kosinsky brought home up to $ 238,182 annually, but the city’s homeless population continued to grow each year. The population rose to 8,000 that year (up 17 percent), and complaints of human litter on the city’s streets rose from 18,246 (2016) to 31,000 (2019).

Incredibly, the department can still claim a “good” job compared to other California cities: In Oakland, the number of homeless has almost doubled over the same period.

Department for the Status of Women (DOSW) – DOSW is committed to “making San Francisco the best place for women and gender-specific people to live, work and study in the US”.

The agency deals with projects such as how many public spaces are named after women. The total compensation for the six full-time employees at DOSW in 2019 was $ 1 million.

However, our auditors also found that DOSW is saving money for its predominantly female cadre of “political scholarship holders”. These interns receive $ 20 an hour while other San Fran government internships in civil engineering, surveying, and similar functions pay $ 29.50 an hour.

War Memorial Opera House – This opera house employs 25 people (out of 120) on six-figure salaries, including a patrol officer who brings in total compensation of $ 164,399. While the summer and fall performance season was canceled or put online, our auditors could not find any reports of layoffs or even wage cuts.

Asian Art Museum – This museum cost the city’s taxpayers $ 7.8 million in compensation for workers last year and is closed to visitors this year.

In 2019, Director Jay Xu earned total compensation of $ 302,145, including a salary ($ 220,563) and benefits ($ 81,582). Other high earners included the assistant director ($ 248,463), a maintenance superintendent ($ 200,802), a curator ($ 200,046), and a librarian ($ 174,355).

The long-term financial situation in San Francisco looks dire.

The city has guaranteed $ 8.1 billion to fund retirees and retirees who haven’t been funded. Each resident of the city owes $ 9,000 to cover the unfunded liability. This is evident from data provided by the Truth In Accounting (2018) organization on tax accountability.

While the city is struggling to balance its books in the face of remarkable economic and social upheaval, the unions are not cooperating. Representing the 44,525 city workers in San Francisco, the organized labor force aggressively hit back against a recent proposal to halt the raise.

San Francisco is a progressive utopia, so well-meaning fiscal hawks have to cry much louder – or they don’t even have a voice at the table.

NOTE: Each agency mentioned in the piece received two requests for comment.

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