http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/2999836

Don't miss the comments.

Comments like that are typical due to most not understanding the importance of the position.

I have been part of a company where the new president made decisions that made such an impact, the company is still barely hanging on 4 years later.

Some may not believe this the way that I do: "You get what you pay for."

The comments are laughable. I still don't know why (actually I do*) newspapers allow for online comments, especially ones linked with Facebook. The people commenting in that article are the same ones you'll see advocating for "the free market," while being angry that our free market allows for a CEO to make millions on the back of minimum wage, seasonal employees. Whether that's right or wrong is a discussion for another day, but didn't Richard "DICK" Kinzel make much, much, much more?


*As idiots bicker over futile comments thinking that the newspapers gives two cents about their opinion, the views on the pages go up thus the views of the ads go up thus increasing revenue.

Yes. Mr. Kinzel made much more. He'd have made even more had it not been for that pesky, activist unitholder. And who it was that would now be running the company would have been up to Apollo Global, who he tried to deliver the company to at approximately 2/3 off.

I actually expected him to be making a little more than that. Hard work pays off though. My grandpa started working for GM in 1968, where he worked in the factories. After about 15 years with the company he finally made it up to the offices and retired a happy man.

For what he's done, and what he's bringing to the park, I've got no complaints. This isn't the best of time for the entertainment industry, and the parks are doing well.

Do the commenters think his payroll was a million during his high school and college jobs? Starter wages are just that, for starters. one shouldn't be thirty five years old and still shoveling fries due to lack of ambition. It the complainers want better wages, perhaps they can try for jobs higher then minimum wage, or create their own niche.

Not really seeing where the comment bitterness comes from. It's not like the guy spends his day riding roller coasters. The same people making those comments would not say "oh no, I can't accept this paycheck when there are high school students out there making minimum" if they were in Ouimet's place.

I also expected that number to be much, much higher.

and sorry I believe that our crime problems have a direct correlation with Cedar Point.

Are these people stupid?

EDIT: The quote says it is from TombRaiderFTW but it is not. It is a quote from a comment on the article.

Man, you know me and my crime rate-Cedar Point conspiracy theories...

I liked the comment about not letting their kids work at the park. So when the kids can't find a job, but that one is available, will they still deny it?

That amount seems a little light...

He does good again in 2013 I say double his salary!

It's like the guy who owns a car wash - on a good day, he's got a line to get in and the passerbys say "He's got a gold mine there, making money hand over fist". But when the weather is lousy, he's closed - the same people don't say, "Oh, I feel so sorry for him, not being able to work". No - they don't even notice a thing.

So the park is open 3 months out of the year and the city of Sandusky basically "lives" for those three months. Don't believe me - drive through the town during the off season - almost everything is closed. What keeps it going? General Motors? Hell no! It's Cedar Point.

Jim Morrison said it years ago....."People are strange"

May, June, July, August, September, and October. That is six months, not three.

Half of May, weekends only in September and October - so I'll keep to my three month "try to keep a business open in Sandusky" phrase.

I was just being nit picky.

I know - ans sometimes I can be a real a-hole. I repeat...Jim Morrison said it years ago.......People are strange

I really wonder what people expect a minimum wage job to be like.

Is it hard work? Sure. Long hours? Yes.

What job (not just minimum wage) does not have these two things in common?

Even the recent Wal-Mart boycotts were absurd.

Could Wal-Mart pay their employees more? Sure. Then their low prices on everyday items will go up and those same people making minimum wage will not be able to afford the things necessary to live.

If anything, hard work at minimum wage should serve a reality check that unless you work even harder, your talents will be wasted on a minimum wage job.

Another thing - put yourself in Mr. Q's shoes......how much would you do his job for?

It's not how much you would do his job for, but rather what would your effort be worth, and according to whom. There have been those who had a country club board that rewarded them handsomely almost without regard to performance, while the Chair/CEO handpicked the members of the board. This is complicated even more when unitholders were getting large distributions from a limited partnership where they had very little say.

Only crushing debt and activist unitholders put an end to that particular scenario, and even then that was largely a consequence of an aborted attempt to sell out the pesky unitholders for a veritable song (Three Coins In The Fountain, I think it was).

Were the coins in the fountains nickels?

Wow, what a wonderful, non-biased article. Seriously, I hope that was in the opinion section because the way the article was written did not read like a news story reporting facts, it was an editorial. Should a professional news article really have a subheading of "Cedar Fair gave some of its top executives a nice Christmas gift, all in the form of contracts."??

And since when does $850,000 + $50,000 = $1,000,000?? I think he deserves to be making more than that (or at least as much as Kinzel was being paid) for the job he has done already in his short time with the company. As others have said, I'm tired of people demonizing CEOs for making a lot of money when they truly don't know all the hard work that goes into the job.

As for complaining about the seasonal employees making minimum wage... I don't want to sound like I am ignoring the fact that the ride ops, food associates, admissions people, etc. work hard for long hours, but those jobs require some training beforehand and that's about. You don't have to go to college to operate a roller coaster, you can't do that with a CEO.

Sorry to ramble on, but this kind of stuff gets to me. I can ignore ignorant comments by readers, but the way the article had such an obvious and unprofessional spin just bothers me. Why do some people feel the need to demonize success? Mr. Ouimet didn't just walk into this position. He was chosen after years of hard work in the industry, working his way up in the Disney Co. and he deserves what he is being paid, which I would assume is less than what other CEOs of similar size companies are making. I know there are cases of CEOs who are grossly overpaid even while their companies aren't doing well, but this isn't one of them. Mr. Ouimet has a lot of people optimistic about the future of a company whose future wasn't looking good just a short time ago. I say good for him on a job well done.

The Sandusky Register has long been known for its pro-Kinzel bias.

Terp, just stating things.