The salaries and other compensation amounts for more than 600
Hollister and San Benito County employees are now listed on a
public website hosted by the state Controller’s Office.
The salaries and other compensation amounts for more than 600 Hollister and San Benito County employees are now listed on a public website hosted by the state Controller’s Office.
The Local Government Compensation Reporting site, unveiled last week, includes minimum and maximum salary ranges, actual wages paid, retirement formulas, pension information and payments for health benefits for elected officials and public employees. The compensation reports can be found at http://lgcr.sco.ca.gov.
“The absence of transparency and accountability invites corruption, self-dealing and the abuse of public funds,” State Controller John Chiang said in a press release. “This website will help taxpayers scrutinize local government compensation and force public officials to account for how they spend public resources.”
Chiang has also sent word to other state and local public agencies that by June 2011 the compensation information for all special district and state employees will also be accessible on the controller’s website.
The City of Hollister submitted compensation information for more than 150 positions, ranging from police to maintenance staff to the City Council, whose members make a base salary of $6,245 or $520 per month. Twenty-nine of the 151 city positions – or just less than 20 percent – listed total 2009 wages of $100,000 or more.
An unidentified fire captain had the highest reported wages in the city last year – $144,632 – approximately $20,000 more than Fire Chief Fred Cheshire. Half of the 26 positions in the fire department listed wages above $100,000 for last year.
City Manager Clint Quilter had the second highest reported wage among city employees, at $136,939, while City Attorney Stephanie Atigh was third at $132,807.
Police Chief Jeff Miller’s 2009 reported wages were listed at $128,620. Police officer base salaries range from $56,684 to $68,900, though their reported wages for last year ranged up to $110,494, according to the Controller’s website.
Among the 478 listed county employee positions, former Chief Administrative Officer Susan Thompson had the highest reported salary, at $179,974, followed by District Attorney Candace Hooper at $161,782. The director of health and human services Kathy Flores made more than $147,000 in 2009, followed by County Clerk-Auditor-Recorder Joe Paul Gonzalez, at $141,251.
Members of the Board of Supervisors, meanwhile, had a salary range of $34,044 to $45,624. All five of them had reported salaries between $40,257 and $46,169.
As of early this week, the city of San Juan Bautista was one of 41 cities that had not filed the required salary reports by the state’s deadline, and therefore is subject to a $5,000 fine, according to the controller’s website.
Stephen Julian, San Juan’s interim city manager, said on Oct. 29 that he hoped to have the information sent to the state “by the end of the day.” Eighty three percent of cities and counties complied with the reporting requirements.
“I’m aware that it needed to be filed,” he said, noting that the city has four employees for whom the information will be provided: the deputy city clerk, the billing clerk and two library employees.
Julian is currently a contract employee, though he and the city are in talks to change him to regular status – something he said “should be finalized fairly shortly.”
The controller last week mailed letters to transit, waste disposal, fire and police special protection districts requiring the submission of payroll information by Dec. 13. In several phases, more than 2,500 independent special districts will be subject to the new reporting requirements in advance of the June 2011 Web posting.
