In an effort to promote broader transparency about public
officials’ compensation, recent salary surveys encouraged
California city managers and county administrative officers,
including the heads of Hollister’s and San Benito County’s
governments, to report how much they earn.
In an effort to promote broader transparency about public officials’ compensation, recent salary surveys encouraged California city managers and county administrative officers, including the heads of Hollister’s and San Benito County’s governments, to report how much they earn.
The interest in managerial salaries was heightened with the recent revelation that officials in the Southern California city of Bell paid its chief administrative officer $787,637 per year with a 12 percent annual raise and city council salaries of $100,000 for part-time service.
Bell, with 37,000 residents, has approximately the same population as the city of Hollister, where City Manager Clint Quilter reported compensation of $136,758, according to the compensation survey, which was administered by the League of California Cities.
Approximately 90 percent of the state’s 468 cities and towns with managers responded to the survey, which asked managers to list compensation that included salary and fringe benefits, not including health insurance or employer payments to retirement programs.
San Benito County Chief Administrative Officer Susan Thompson reported compensation of $179,974. The County Administrative Officers Association of California conducted the survey of its members.
State Attorney General Jerry Brown last week sued top Bell officials and council members, demanding they return hundreds of thousands of dollars in “unwarranted salaries,” according to a press release from Brown’s office.
Brown also announced that he is widening his statewide probe of public salaries and benefits and he has called for legislative action to reform salary and pension practices. The State Controller’s Office will augment the information in the survey through a new program in which cities and counties will be required to submit much more comprehensive information on compensation levels for all employees by Oct. 1.
