Earlier today, Mayor Mike McGinn issued four executive orders putting strict new limits on city departments' ability to hire, fire, and give raises to their employees. The orders also place department managers under a hiring freeze and require mayoral vetting of all consultant contracts.

It's hard to know exactly what the implications of such a policy would be. The language of the orders, if interpreted strictly, would require mayoral approval of all departmental hiring decisions; mayoral approval of all salary offers for positions ranked manager or above; and mayoral approval of all "consulting contracts," a category that potentially includes hundreds of contracts a year. Taken together, the orders potentially amount to a tremendous re-centralization of power over hiring and contracting within the mayor's office.

UPDATE: At today's post-inauguration schmoozefest at City Hall, McGinn spokesman Mark Matassa said he wasn't sure how far-reaching the orders would be in practice. Asked how directly the mayor's office would be involved in departmental hiring and contracting decisions, Matassa said, "I'm not sure the answer to that."

During the campaign, McGinn vowed to cut the number of strategic advisers at the city in half (a reduction of about 100 staff); however, as I've written before, "strategic adviser" is a pretty vague category (sort of like "mayoral staff assistant") that includes everything from civil engineers to public-relations staff to the entire central staff of the city council.

Meanwhile, McGinn just rolled out the latest list of his staff appointments and salaries. No big surprises on the list (included in full below)—many McGinn volunteers now have full-time jobs in the administration, and several previously announced appointments are now official. Those appointments include nine new mayoral staff assistants and five strategic advisers.

Full list of the McGinn appointees announced today below the jump.

Mayor's Office

$ 65,000         Birkholz, Elizabeth          Project manager

$ 65,000         Burson, Alison                  Executive assistant

$ 65,000         Close, Ainsley                    Strategic adviser

$ 75,000         Cramer, Jennifer              Strategic adviser

$ 51,406         Day, Elliott                         Mayoral staff assistant

$ 70,000         Deehr, Rebecca                Strategic adviser

$ 75,000         Farmer, Derek                  Strategic adviser

$ 51,406         Fishbone, Aaron               Mayoral staff assistant

$125,000*      Fujii, Phil                          Deputy mayor for operations

$100,000       Inagi, Candace                  Labor and community liaison

$125,000       Marquardt, Carl                Legal counsel

$100,000       Matassa, Mark                  Communications director

$125,000       McCoy, Julie                      Chief of staff

$ 45,000         Merrill, Nathaniel            Mayoral staff assistant

$ 51,406         Nance, Jen                          Mayoral staff assistant

$ 55,000         Pickus, Aaron                    Mayoral staff assistant

$125,000       Raup, Ethan                        Director of policy and external affairs

$125,000       Smith, Darryl                      Deputy mayor for community

$ 51,406         Stanley, Becky                    Mayoral staff assistant

$ 45,000         Thomas, April                   Mayoral staff assistant

$ 51,406         Villarreal,Sol                      Community engagement coordinator

City Budget Office

$125,000       Goldberg, Beth

$100,000       Maxwell, Nicholas

$ 90,000         Taylor, Tom

$100,000       Walker, Hall

Human Services Department

$125,000       Tokuda, Kip

Office of Intergovernmental Relations

$100,000       Engelking, Craig

$115,000       Lowe, Marco