Former state commerce chief Don Cardon is going to get most of his performance bonus even though he quit the agency long before the end of his three-year contract.
Cardon was hired last September at a salary of $300,000, a $50,000 signing bonus, $30,000 for a health and wellness package -- and a promise of $75,000 in incentives. He left earlier this year and agreed to give back that signing bonus, minus taxes paid. But Gov. Jan Brewer signed off on giving Cardon more than $60,000 of that incentive. Press aide Matthew Benson said his boss believes it was justified.
